Taliban group terrorizes Christian communities in Pakistan
Four suicide bombers and a civilian were killed when terrorists attempted an attack on a Christian colony in Peshawar, Pakistan. Five people were reportedly injured.
The Pakistani Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the attack. The suicide bombers gained entry to the Christian Colony Warsak after hitting a security guard at 5:50 a.m. last Friday.
The colony is situated near the borders of the Khyber and Mohmand agencies. A Frontier Corps training center, a cadet college and an army school are in the immediate area.
Security agency sources told DawnNews that the training facilities were the initial targets but they had been alerted to the threats. Thus, the terrorists chose to attack the Christian colony instead.
The police recovered guns, four suicide jackets and four hand grenades from the scene. The attackers were reportedly using Afghan mobile phone SIMs. Each of them were armed with 8 to 10 kilograms of explosives.
A day before the attack, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) gave a briefing regarding the operation against terrorists in the region. Asim Bajwa, the Director-General of ISPR, reported that 3,500 terrorists have been killed during the course of Operation Zarb-i-Azb which began in 2014.
Jamaat-ur-Ahrar carried out another attack at the Mardan district courts just hours after the statement by the ISPR was made. At least 14 people were killed and 52 people were injured. A hand grenade reportedly exploded before the attacker detonated his suicide vest.
"First there was a small blast followed by a big blast," chief rescue officer Haris Habib told the Express Tribune. "So far, we recovered 14 bodies of the lawyers, police personnel and civilians," he added.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the attacks would "not shatter our (Pakistan's) unflinching resolve in our war against terrorism."
