Daily Security Brief: March 15, 2012

ISLAMABAD: A suicide bomber armed with explosives-laden belt killed a senior police officer and wounded his four colleagues in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on Thursday.

The brazen attack was executed at about 9 am when the bomber detonated his belt close to a police vehicle in the Pishtakhara neighbourhood, Shafqat Malik, bomb disposal squad member, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Police superintendent Kalam Khan died in the blast, while his driver and a police guard were injured.

He said the bomber came on foot and detonated his five kilograms explosives near Khan’s jeep.

Witness Habib Gul said he saw the bomber chasing the police vehicle on the Ring Road and blew himself up.

“I saw four policemen lying on the ground after the explosion that destroyed the police jeep,” he said.

A doctor on duty at the Hayatabad Medical Complex, Salman Afridi, said an officer was among five injured cops rushed to the hospital from the scene, but later the officer succumbed to his injuries.

He said another policeman is in a critical condition.

Elsewhere in the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, five bullet-riddled bodies were found in the Sepah area of Khyber, a local official said on condition of anonymity.

Local authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, he said.

No group had claim responsibility for the mysterious killings.

The area near Afghan border is home to Taliban.

–Qaisar Yosufzai

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KABUL: Two rebel groups, comprising a dozen insurgents, joined the reconciliation programme in northwestern Badghis province, the spy service in Kabul said on Thursday.

Led by Mullah) said in a statement.

The surrender came as a result of efforts by tribal elders and intelligence operatives. The surrendering individuals had vowed to help maintain security in the area. They also surrendered their weapons, said NDS.

The statement quoted the ex-fighters as saying they had been deceived by the enemies of the country by false propaganda.

—Khwaja Baser Ahmad

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KABUL: A NATO) soldier died as a result of a non-battle-related injury in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance said on Thursday.

The servicemember’s death was announced in a brief statement from the ISAF media office that neither revealed the soldier’s nationality nor the exact location. Mostly American troops are deployed to eastern provinces of Afghanistan.

So far during the current year, 70 foreign troops, including 47 Americans, have been killed in Afghanistan. Last year, 566 ISAF soldiers were killed in the country.

–Pajhwok Report

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NANGARHAR: Unidentified gunmen blew up a school building in the eastern Nangarhar province after overpowering the guards, an official said on Thursday.

The incident took place at around 10 pm on Wednesday when armed men tied up two guards at the school and blew up the building in Sholana village of Chaparhar district, said Mohammad Asif Shinwari, the education department spokesperson.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News that an office room, eight classrooms, 28 tents, text books and other materials were burnt in the explosion.

After carrying out the act the militants released the two guards and managed to flee from the scene, he said.

Nearly 1,390 female and 1,250 male students are currently studying in the school.

Since March 2011 it was the fourth school building that militants destroyed in the district.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the Sholana village incident, while a Taliban spokesman said they were against government’s education system, but denied any role in school burnings.

–Abdul Mueed Hashimi

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