The attack, committed at the heart of the Peshawar police headquarters, comes after the end of the truce between the Pakistani government and the Taliban movement
by Jacques Follorou
The Pakistani government hoped that the return to power, mid-August 2021, of its Afghan Taliban allies in Kabul would mark the end of insurrectional violence in the region. It was a pile wish. Nearly ninety people, mainly police, were killed, and around one hundred and fifty injured on Monday, January 30, in a suicide attack perpetrated in a mosque located in the heart of the Peshawar police headquarters, in the northwest of the country.
This attack comes after the failure of a committed peace process, under the aegis of the Afghan Taliban, between the government of Islamabad and the Pakistani Taliban movement of the TTP (Tehrik-E-Taliban Pakistan). An internal war in Pakistan which could ultimately weigh on relations between Islamabad and Kabul.
Experts could not, Monday evening, precisely determine the circumstances of the attack. The first elements indicate that the explosion occurred in the second row of the faithful, a few seconds after the Imam started prayer. Before mixing with the crowd, the suspect managed to cross several security checks to enter the fortified area, called “red zone”, which houses, in addition to the siege of the provincial police, an anti -terrorist division and several agencies information.
chaotic relationship
Number of victims were trapped in the collapse of part of the roof and several walls. The emergency services were still at work, Tuesday at the start of the day, to try to find survivors under the rubble. According to Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan, three hundred to four hundred people were present inside the mosque, raising fears of a heavier balance sheet. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the sponsors wanted to destabilize the country.
Sarbakaf Mohmand, a TTP commander, claimed the responsibility of the attack. But, a few hours later, the spokesperson for the movement, Mohammad Khurasani, denying all responsibility, claiming that he did not target mosques and religious places. He even added that the authors of such acts could be reproduced. These contradictory remarks suggest possible differences within the movement.
This attack on Pakistan is nevertheless in a chaotic relationship between the TTP and the government which has continued to fluctuate between dialogue and repression. On November 9, 2021, the Pakistani government had signed a one month’s ceasefire agreement with the TTP, which included the release of a hundred activists from the Pakistani Taliban movement. On December 9, believing that the Pakistani government “continues [has] to kill [its] fighters”, the TTP had refused to renew the ceasefire and the clashes resumed.
You have 35.75% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.