PESHAWAR: Three Federal Constabulary (FC) men were martyred in a suicide attack on the force’s headquarters in Peshawar’s Saddar area on Monday morning.
The attack occurred on one of the city’s busiest roads just after 8am. Video footage of the incident showed one terrorist, clad in a chaddor, approaching the gate and detonating himself. Seconds later, two other terrorists tried to enter the compound.
The attack occurred as an assembly for the first working day of the week was being held at the main compound.
“Initially, three militants tried to attack the headquarters. One terrorist blew himself up at the gate, while two others tried to enter the premises but were gunned down by FC personnel,” Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Dr Mian Saeed Ahmad said while speaking to reporters.
He further said that three FC men had been martyred in the suicide attack at the gate, while two others were injured. He added that a clearance operation had been carried out.
Asked whether a threat alert had been issued prior to the incident, the police official said, “You are aware of the overall situation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the country, so we are on high alert. They were unable to enter [the headquarters] due to this alertness. They were neutralised at the gate.”
The Jamatul Ahrar faction of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.
The paramilitary force, originally called the Frontier Constabulary, was renamed by the government in July. The headquarters of the force is located in a crowded area, close to a military cantonment. The headquarters building houses barracks, hospitals, and residential quarters.
Meanwhile, an emergency was declared at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Peshawar’s largest public sector hospital, and Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH).
The spokesmen of the hospitals confirmed that 11 injured had been brought to LRH while one injured person had been brought to KTH.
Today’s incident is the second major terrorist attack on a security installation in Peshawar in the last three years. In February 2023, 84 people were killed in a suicide attack on a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines.
