PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council has announced complete boycott of courts across the province on Wednesday (today) in protest against the terrorist attack on Tangi Tehsil Courts in Charsadda.

Apart from province-wide boycott of courts the lawyers’ community would also observe further two days of mourning, the council announced on Tuesday. It asked the presidents of all district and tehsil bar councils to record their protest and also furnish their suggestions about how to improve law and order situation in their respective courts and also to enhance security of lawyers and judges.

This was the second act of terrorism targeting the judiciary within a span of seven days as on Feb 15 a suicide bomber had targeted an official vehicle carrying five civil judges at Hayatabad Township in Peshawar. In that incident, the official driver was killed and four judges were injured.

Against the earlier incident the lawyers’ community had observed boycott of courts in the province on Feb 16.

Meanwhile, the Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and other judges hailed the judicial officers of Tangi Tehsil Courts to face the difficult situation with strong nerves when terrorists struck.

In a press release, they also appreciated the timely action of the local police for thwarting the attack by not allowing the terrorists to enter the court premises.

The judges expressed grief over the casualties in the incident and prayed for early recovery of the injured.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2017