PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan along with Governor Shah Farman and Peshawar Corps Commander Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed on Saturday visited the Imambargah Hussainabad in Koocha Risaldar area here and offered fateha for the worshippers, who lost life in the Friday suicide bombing.

They sympathised with the elders of Shia community and relatives of those, who were killed in the terrorist attack, and prayed for the deceased and the injured, according to an official statement issued here.

The chief minister, governor and corps commander condemned the bombing and said that terrorism would be fought until its elimination in the country.

They said that the people needed to understand the common enemy’s motives behind such incidents, which was nothing but to divide the nation. They urged the nation to fight the enemy with the ‘spirit of national unity’. The chief minister said that the loss caused by the suicide blast was huge and irreparable and couldn’t be compensated in any form.

He, however, said that the provincial government was fully committed to arresting culprits for punishment.

Mr Mahmood said that an effective strategy was being chalked out to prevent such incidents.

“The future course of action will be planned by learning lessons from the mistakes committed earlier and removing the weakness in the system,” he said in the statement.

The chief minister said that necessary steps were being taken to beef up the security of worship places and other sensitive spots across the province. He said that though the war against terrorism was not easy, the people would fight it with the ‘spirit of national unity and cohesion’.

On the occasion, Corps Commander Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed said that with the support of the government and people, the security forces would eradicate the menace of terrorism.

He added that coordination among all relevant entities was being improved for the purpose.

Elders of the community thanked the governor, chief minister and corps commander for visiting them and condoling deaths in the bombing. They said they would help security forces fight the common enemy and won’t let any political group exploit the incident to serve their political ends.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2022