PESHAWAR: The second-in-command in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police was martyred and six police personnel suffered injuries in a suicide attack in Hayatabad neighbourhood of the city on Friday.

According to police, Ad­ditional Inspector General (AIG) Muhammad Ashraf Noor was going from his home to the office when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden motorcycle into his vehicle near Zarghoni Masjid.

Mr Noor was serving as the AIG headquarters at the Central Police Office.

The Khyber Agency-based militant outfit, Lashkar-i-Islam, has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.

Salahuddin Ayubi, a spokesperson for the group, called some reporters, saying that his group had carried out the attack.

Some of the injured police personnel were in a police van following the AIG’s vehicle. The injured police personnel were taken to the Hayatabad Medical Complex.

City police chief Moha­mmad Tahir Khan told reporters at the crime scene that Mr Noor’s vehicle had caught fire after the bomber rammed his motorcycle into it. He said police had collected body parts of the suspected suicide bomber.

Lashkar-i-Islam claims responsibility for blast

He said that due to its proximity to Khyber Agency and the Afghan border Hayatabad Township offered easy accessibility to criminal elements.

Mr Khan said that recent terrorism incidents in Hayatabad, including the July bomb attack on an FC convoy, appeared to be the work of the same group.

Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) chief AIG Shafqat Malik told Dawn that the bomber wore a suicide vest while the motorbike had also been rigged with explosives. “About 15 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the blast,” he added.

Mr Malik said that apparently the bomber was acting alone.

He quoted a policeman travelling with the AIG as saying that the attacker was seen kick-starting his motorcycle moments before the attack. After the attack all roads leading to the crime scene were sealed for several hours.

Profile

Mr Noor hailed from Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan. He joined the KP police in November 1989. His first posting was as sub-divisional police officer, Kohata. He was a member of the 17th Common Training Progra­mme and a batchmate of the incumbent KP police chief. Mr Noor was set to retire in 2023.

He had served as DPO for Chitral and Kohistan, DIG inquiries and inspection, DIG investigation, DIG special branch and commandant of the Police Training College, Hangu.

Last year, Mr Noor’s services were placed at the disposal of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary after he voiced his agitation over being left out in promotion under the command of former KP police chief Nasir Khan Durrani.

In a letter addressed to Mr Durrani, Mr Noor had said that two of his juniors had been promoted to higher positions and that his services should be surrendered to the federal government. However, days before Mr Durrani’s retirement, Mr Noor was appointed head of the Elite Force and given the charge of AIG headquarters after Salahuddin Khan Mehsud took over the charge of KP police.

Funeral prayers

Funeral prayers for the AIG were offered at the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines. KP Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Nazir Butt, KP Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, KP police chief Salahuddin Khan, FC Commandant Liaqat Ali Khan and a large number of civilians and policemen attended the funeral prayers.

Mr Noor’s body was sent in a helicopter to Skardu for burial.

AIG Noor was the second high-ranking officer after Commandant FC Safwat Ghayyur who had lost his life in a suicide attack in 2010.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2017