Terrorists behind deadly police lines mosque attack unmasked: IGP Moazzam Jah Ansari
PESHAWAR, Feb 02 (SABAH): Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police (IGP) Moazzam Jah Ansari on Thursday said the network of terrorists behind the deadly police lines mosque attack has been found and claimed that the bomber arrived in police uniform riding a motorcycle to target policemen gathered for prayers in the mosque.
Addressing a press conference, Moazzam Jah Ansari said that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage has been acquired through which it was clearly seen that the suicide bomber was wearing a police uniform, riding a motorcycle and wearing a face mask.
He refuted all the conspiracies that emerged regarding the suicide attack in Peshawar. He said the designs of terrorists would be thwarted with full might with the cooperation of state organisations and police. At least 103 people mostly policemen were killed and 220 injured in the mosque attack that happened Monday this week in the red zone.
Flanked by Chief Capital City Police Officer, Ejaz Khan, the IGP said that the morale of the police force was sky-high despite the mosque’s bombing and ready to give more sacrifices for the protection of their motherland against any threat. “We are zeroing in on the terrorist network behind the deadly terrorist attack on the peaceful worshipers during Zuhr prayer inside the police lines’ mosque.”
The IGP pleaded to people not to provoke and mislead his force’s jawans. “Police jawans are like his children and the misleading would not be tolerated.” The IGP disclosed that the network of terrorists behind the attack has been found. The suicide blast was so powerful that the shockwaves did not find ways to escape, hence, forcing the mosque ‘s roof to collapse on worshipers due to the lack of pillars.
He said about 10 to 12 kilograms of trinitrotoluene (TNT) was used in the attack. “Our first target was to retrieve the survivors and extract injured from the mosque’s debris.” He reiterated that the pain of the police force should not be increased further by creating hurdles in the police work and that politics on the dead bodies of our loved ones should be avoided. The IGP said all details would be shared with the media once the investigation was completed
To a question about the extra time taken in the investigation, IGP explained that it takes one person 24 hours to scan a day’s footage and 100 people were required to look at all cameras. The IGP informed that he himself had seen the footage of the suicide bomber who was dressed in a police uniform wearing a casual jacket and helmet arriving on a motorbike to police lines.
He said the motorcycle used by the bomber has been traced and more details about tracing were being collected. The IGP said the bomber entered the mosque at 12:37 pm and asked one of the police constables about the mosque, adding the question indicated that the bomber was unaware of the place and was sent by someone to carry out the explosion with police was the target.
He further noted that: “There’s a complete network behind him. He is not a lone ranger. We will talk with the evidence in hand. We are burning the midnight oil in this investigation and we are exploring every possibility.”
Regarding the provocation, he said: “We were busy in funeral preparations and the conspiracies were attempted to provoke our people to launch a protest. If they take the law into their own hands then who would be the law enforcer in the streets?”
“My people do not need the protection of anyone because they are the protectors. Some nefarious elements have made this issue controversial. I have conveyed to everyone that your way is not of protest but help in finding the bomber,” he concluded.
In response to a question, Ansari said that technical evidence and information collected by sensitive institutions suggested that the blast was the work of TTP’s Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction.
“The TTP claimed responsibility for the blast for which the reasons are clear. But then they disowned it. It seems that they consulted among the group and realised that they will be criticised for attacking a mosque,” he said.
But, the IG continued, “we can clearly say through all the evidence that Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, TTP and a hostile intelligence agency working against the national security of Pakistan is behind it”.
“We know the people responsible for it, we know the handlers and the operators as well,” he said.