Peshawar | Pakistan

Authorities investigating the 24 November suicide attack on the Federal Constabulary (FC) Headquarters in Peshawar have confirmed that all three attackers were Afghan nationals.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police (IG) Zulfiqar Hameed on Tuesday said the perpetrators of yesterday’s suicide attack on the Federal Constabulary (FC) Headquarters in Peshawar were likely Afghan citizens. Investi­gators and intelligence agencies are hunting for facilitators and support networks behind the attack, which saw three personnel embrace martyrdom and 12 sustain injuries. The attack, which began after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance, was swiftly repulsed as personnel engaged and shot his two accomplices dead before they could enter the installation to inflict any major damage. Questioned about the progress of the investigation and whether any evidence had come to the fore about the assailants being Afghan citizens, IG Hameed said: “We are saying this because, based on the evidence so far, when someone does not have a citizenship record, they are assumed to be Afghan or something similar.” He confirmed that authorities had identified the location where the terrorists spen...

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned the suicide attack on the Federal Constabulary (FC) headquarters in Peshawar, which claimed the lives of three FC personnel on Monday.

Three Federal Constabulary (FC) men were martyred in a suicide attack on the force’s headquarters in Peshawar’s Saddar area on Monday morning. The attack occurred on one of the city’s busiest roads just after 8am. Video footage of the incident showed one terrorist, clad in a chaddor, approaching the gate and detonating himself. Seconds later, two other terrorists tried to enter the compound. The attack occurred as an assembly for the first working day of the week was being held at the main compound. “Initially, three militants tried to attack the headquarters. One terrorist blew himself up at the gate, while two others tried to enter the premises but were gunned down by FC personnel,” Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Dr Mian Saeed Ahmad said while speaking to reporters. He further said that three FC men had been martyred in the suicide attack at the gate, while two others were injured. He added that a clearance operation had been carried out. Asked whether a threat alert had been issued prior to th...

Three Federal Constabulary (FC) officials were martyred, two terrorists were killed, and five people — including two officials — were injured in an attack on the FC Headquarters in Peshawar’s Saddar area on Monday morning.

PESHAWAR: TikTok is a popular entertainment app with approximately 1.6 billion active users worldwide, but here, like many other places, it is posing a new challenge to law enforcement agencies including the police to clamp down on cognisable offences in soft form. Police officials note with concern the increasingly disturbing trend to promote obscenity, vulgarity and brandishing of weapons to terrorise citizens: the rise of negative content on TikTok, which is increasingly influencing young people. Police say, content creators have turned to entertainment platforms like TikTok to make money by generating more views through showcasing of weapons and promoting vulgar content that is having a negative impact on society. In some cases, the exchange of abuses on the social media platform led to fire fight between individuals, resulting in killings. Taking note of the increasing trend, Peshawar police recently launched a crackdown against those responsible for pushing boundaries and were promoting negative content...

Two trains traveling from Karachi and Peshawar to Quetta were unexpectedly halted at Jacobabad railway station.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Local government, Elections and Rural Development Meena Khan Afridi on Sunday announced that the provincial government would set up an inquiry commission to probe the vandalism of the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar during the riots on May 9, 2023. Following the arrest of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan on May 9, 2023 from the Islamabad High Court’s premises, riots erupted across the country that went on for at least 24 hours. Public properties and military installations were also vadalised during the riots, including the Radio Pakistan building in KP’s provincial capital. The announcement that the KP government would be forming a commission to probe the vandalism of the building was made by Meena Khan during a press conference alongside Adviser to the KP chief minister Shafiullah Jan in Peshawar today. “Since it is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in our jurisdiction, our first cabinet will form an inquiry commission to probe what happened at the Radio Pakistan b...

An official was killed and two others injured in an explosion at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in Peshawar on Sunday, reportedly caused by a short circuit.

A Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) official was martyred in Peshawar on Sunday morning, while two others were injured when explosives stored in a police station went off. Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Dr Mian Saeed Ahmad confirmed the casualties of the incident at the CTD police station in a statement. “Preliminary assessment shows that an explosion occurred due to the detonation of old explosive material stored in the police station’s ammunition room. Fire has also spread to other ammunition, causing further explosions,” the statement read. Police and security forces cordoned off the area, as “clearance [was] going on”, the CCPO said. He added that the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU), along with rescue and fire brigade services, were working accordingly. Citing a preliminary assessment, the statement said, “Police sources confirm that this incident does not appear to be a terrorist attack”. In another statement, the CCPO’s office said a special investigation team of the CTD reached the police statio...

A 13-member provincial cabinet picked by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi took the oath of office on Friday in Peshawar. According to a statement from the KP government, the cabinet’s swearing-in ceremony took place at the Governor’s House in Peshawar. “KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi administered the oath,” the statement said. “Those sworn in as provincial ministers included Meena Khan Afridi, Arshad Ayub Khan, Amjad Ali, Aftab Alam Afridi, Fazal Shakoor Khan, Khaleequr Rehman, Riaz Khan, Syed Fakhar Jehan, Aqibullah Khan and Faisal Khan Tarakai. “KP Governor Kundi congratulated the newly sworn-in provincial ministers and expressed his best wishes to them,” it added. According to an earlier summary sent to the KP governor by the provincial government, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, CM Afridi had selected his cabinet members, while also picking Muzammil Aslam and Taj Muhammad as advisers, and Shafi Jan as a special assistant. The PTI’s KP chapter had also confirmed the names in a po...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Tuesday said that the Peshawar corps commander visited the CM Secretariat earlier to “congratulate” him. The CM shared this information while speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court, where he was also asked what the two had discussed during the meeting. “He came to congratulate me, and it was not an official [exchange]. The conversation was unofficial. And our stance is the same [everywhere], what we say inside is what we say outside,” Afridi replied. Responding to a follow-up question, he further explained that he was the chief executive of a province and even the inspector general of police and the chief secretary had visited his office. Similarly, he continued, “the corps commander will also come there, and the officers of all of our security institutions will also come. We will discuss matters pertaining to the province with them.” Apparently referring to security officials, he said they should visit the chief ministers and the prime minister’s of...

Lost merit? University of Peshawar fails to attract students

The Peshawar police on Tuesday filed a case over the alleged abduction of PTI activist Sanam Javed near the Civil Officers’ mess in the provincial capital. The first information report (FIR), seen by Dawn.com, was filed by Javed’s friend Hira Babar at Peshawar’s Sharqi police station in the early hours of Tuesday. Babar claimed in the FIR that she and the PTI activist were heading back after having dinner together on Monday during the latter’s visit to the city when the “abduction” took place. “Around 10:40pm, we were blocked by a green Vigo while we were heading back after having a dinner outside. We tried to turn back but a white car appeared from behind to intercept us,” she told the police. “Five men got out and attempted to force Sanam into their car. At this point, we started shouting for help, but the people in the surroundings, which included officers and security personnel, did not intervene,” she said. “The car took her towards the Red Zone,” Babar claimed. The FIR was filed under Section 365 (kidna...

PESHAWAR - Four police personnel were injured when an improvised explosive device hit their vehicle near in Bhanah Mari police station’s jurisdiction, Peshawar, on Thursday.

At least nine people, including four law enforcement personnel, were injured in a blast near Peshawar’s Bani Mara area on Thursday, police said. Statements issued by Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Dr Mian Saeed’s office confirmed these details. He separately told Dawn.com that police were targeted in the incident. “Initial investigation shows that the device that caused the blast was planted on the route of a police mobile,” he added. The CCPO added that the condition of one of the injured was serious. Rescue services shifted the injured to a nearby medical facility after the attack. He said police were investigation whether the the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device or not. Following the blast, a large contingent of security forces reached the incident site and cordoned off the area. Separately, the city’s Senior Superintendent of Police Operation Masood Bangash told Dawn.com that law enforcers were investigating the incident and evidence from the site of the blast was being coll...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who is a senior PTI leader, asserted on Saturday that his provincial government did not support any operation — a reference to military action in various parts of the province against militants. Addressing a PTI rally in Peshawar, he said, “We will not allow any operation and do not support it … Federal government, listen. The KP government does not support operation or displacement.” Gandapur called on the “federal institutions” to talk to Afghanistan and resolve the issue of terrorism in the country. “We don’t want war and we will raise our voice against it,” he added. Gandapur has been shifting positions on the matter. In July, he said in a heavily-edited video message that the armed for­ces were in the province at the request of the KP government and should be treated as “guests” and with respect. This came in complete contrast to another video statement issued by him following a PTI parliamentary meeting a day ago, in which he said that innocent civili...

The federal government has decided to relocate the Federal Constabulary (FC) Headquarters from Peshawar to the federal capital, in line with its plan to transform the force into a modern and active security institution.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Tuesday said that tremors were felt in Peshawar, Mansehra and Islamabad after another earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan. A press release from the PMD said the 5.4-magnitude earthquake occurred at 5:30pm in southeastern Afghanistan at a depth of 22 kilometres with tremors felt all the way in Peshawar, Mansehra, Islamabad, Abbottabad and Swat. Meanwhile, the US Geological Survey reported it as a 5.2-magnitude earthquake 34 kilometres northeast of Jalalabad city in Nangarhar province. The epicentre of the tremor was close to where a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit late Sunday night, devastating remote areas in mountainous provinces near the border with Pakistan. The “quake was felt in the same areas which were affected in Kunar [province] in the first earthquake”, Ehsanullah Ehsan, the disaster management spokesman in the hard-hit province, told AFP. “These aftershocks are constant, but they have not caused any casualties yet.” The number of victims from Sunday’s ...

Torrential downpours lashed several parts of Punjab and Peshawar on Saturday night, worsening the already grim situation in flood-hit regions.