It’s double trouble for Pakistan Army. Shocked at the death of their frontline colleagues in Monday’s suicide bombing at a mosque in Peshawar that killed over 100, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police have begun protests and threatened to resign en masse if proper probe is not done or if the Inter-State Intelligence (ISI) obstructs the investigation, local sources told News18. While the Army and ISI openly condemn the killings by Taliban, they tacitly extend their support to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), say insiders.
The suicide bombing was the deadliest in a decade to hit Peshawar, a restive northwestern city near the Afghan border. The bomber struck as hundreds of worshippers gathered for noon prayers in a mosque that was purpose built for the police and their families living in a highly fortified area.
The most active militant group in the area, the Pakistani Taliban, also called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has denied responsibility for the attack, which no group has claimed so far. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had told parliament a breakaway faction of the TTP was to blame, even as TTP attacks are on the rise in Peshawar.
Police officers from Peshawar are out on the streets to protest against the attack, with slogans of ‘KP Police Zindabad’ and ‘Aman Gwaru’. The protesters are demanding that a joint investigation team (JIT) be formed to investigate the blast. The Mardan police, too, have joined the protest, said local sources.
THE LETTER ACCESSED BY CNN-NEWS18
A letter from the Special Branch to the DIG Police Special Branch, provincial officers and CCP, accessed by CNN-News18, gave out details of the messages being circulated by the KP police.
The letter states that written and voice messages from unknown persons demanding a JIT and revenge against the perpetrators are doing the rounds. Otherwise, the junior rank officials have been directed to submit their resignations en masse to the unit concerned.
The letter also quoted the following written messages:
- “If the blood of our jawans is not avenged, the entire KP police will quit duty and all the jawans will submit their resignations on the same day. (From All KPK Police Junior ranks)."
- “You all have to be one or else these funerals will have to be carried out daily. (From All KPK Police Junior Ranks)."
- The third message is in Pashto, which is translated in the letter as follows: “This is a Whatsapp message to all friends, which should be shared as much as possible on their Whatsapp groups. We demand that a JIT be formed for a transparent inquiry … The facts were not brought to the fore …what if another similar incident happens…One hundred thousand police officers of the junior ranks should write their collective resignations on the same day and at the same time to their respective units. I will submit. Alas, better than us are rickshaw pullers, bakers and transporters who at least protest for their rights. They too are ready to skip two or three days’ salaries… We will not tolerate this game anymore."
MIRED IN VIOLENCE FOR 2 DECADES
Pakistan Police investigating the suicide bombing said on Tuesday that several people had been arrested, and they could not rule out the possibility that the bomber had internal assistance evading security checks.
Peshawar sits on the edge of the Pashtun tribal lands, a region mired in violence for the past two decades. The blast demolished the upper storey of the mosque. It was the deadliest attack in Peshawar since twin suicide bombings at All Saints Church killed scores of worshippers in September 2013.
The TTP is an umbrella group for Sunni and sectarian Islamist factions opposed to the government in Islamabad.
With agency inputs
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