Unidentified terrorists fired three Russian-made rockets at different places in Peshawar on Thursday sending alarm bells ringing at the security agencies. One of the rockets injured two constables and damaged the CID police building while two others exploded in Qamardin Garhi, a suburban village of the provincial capital, without causing any damage or injuries. Police officials told The News that one of the three Russian-made ROB-107 rockets hit the Crimes Investigation Department’s (CID) building, near Gora Qabristan in the city centre, from a distance of 100 meters. The rockets were placed under a pushcart and connected with timer devices which went off at about 12.25 pm, the officials said.
A constable, Naik Mohammad, sustained critical injuries while his colleague, Khayal Mohammad, was slightly injured when the rocket hit a retiring room on the first floor of the CID building. The rocket, according to sources, slightly missed ammunition depot of the CID adjacent to the retiring room. The CID building is located close to the school of the Special Services Group (SSG), training centre of military commandos, and the Peshawar air base while the heavily guarded US Consulate in Peshawar is just hundreds of yards away from the spot. City police chief Tanvirul Haq Sipra said the rocket striking the CID post was fired from a pushcart standing at the opposite side, near the main University Road. "We have examined the two other shells, recovered from the outskirts of Qamardin Garhi, and it is clear that they were of the same make and might have been fired from the same pushcart," he said.
Two other rockets fell near Qamardin Garhi, located about eight kilometres southeast of the city. No injury was reported in these blasts. Just after the incident, locals rumoured that the rockets were fired by a plane. However, police officials dismissed the assumptions by saying that all the three rockets were fired from the same launcher. The distance between the two falling rockets, the police said, was about 400 meters. "I heard a deafening sound and saw a piece of metal falling on the ground," said an eyewitness, Yusuf, who was working in the nearest fields at the time the explosions took place, said the second rocket shell hit a mud-house, slightly damaging its boundary wall.
According to locals, a stranger was noticed selling fruit on the pushcart, used for rocket launching, but nobody suspected any foul play. This was the same spot where the men in uniform had seriously beaten conductor of a passenger bus for parking the vehicle just opposite the targeted police post. Though, police are still groping in the dark, some of the officials suspect that smugglers mafia could be behind the attacks after a recent crackdown on them. While others do not rule out the possibility of pro-al-Qaeda elements for launching the attacks in revenge, as the CID closely worked with the American FBI to carry out raids and search operations against suspected "foreign terrorists".
| That's making the assumption there's a difference between the smugglers and the pro-al-Qaeda elements, of course... |
"We are looking into all aspects of the incident. It will, however, be premature to blame anybody or any group at this stage," said city police chief Tanvirul Haq Sipra. He said that six investigation teams have been constituted and search operation has been launched in suspected areas of Regi, Nasir Bagh and Qila Shah Beg while nakabandis have been made on all entry points to the city. "No arrests have been made so far," replied the CCP in response to a query. Police have also hired foot-tracers to search for the culprits. NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani while taking serious notice of the situation has directed the law enforcing agencies to arrest the culprits and ensure perfect security to the public at all costs. Army intelligence agencies have also started investigation into the matter to search out the criminals behind the incident. |