–Security personnel demolish hideout of suspects after finding it rigged with 50kgs of explosives
PESHAWAR: An operation against suspected terrorists holed up in a house in Peshawar’s Hayatabad area concluded on Tuesday afternoon after a 17-hour standoff, with five suspects killed and a policeman martyred.
The suspects had taken cover in a house in Phase 7 of the Hayatabad locality, from where they attacked security forces.
According to Peshawar police chief Qazi Jameel, one of the suspected terrorists had been killed on Monday night whereas the rest of the four were neutralised on Tuesday.
“Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG) and police personnel participated in the operation. Two of them were injured during the action,” Jameel said.
The sole policeman martyred in the operation had lost his life last night.
Officials said that the suspects had offered stiff resistance throughout the night, adding that the terrorists were neutralised after security forces breached the walls and stormed the building in their final push.
According to police, 50 kilogrammes of explosive material was found installed in a bike and parts of the building. The building was demolished with explosives soon after the operation concluded.
Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Shaheen Mazhar Mahmood visited the site of the operation on Tuesday morning. He directed security officials to adopt all possible precautions to ensure the security of the area’s residents.
Residents living around the suspects’ hideout were evacuated with the help of security personnel and rescue forces. Two injured women from the area were also shifted to the Hayatabad Medical Complex for treatment.
Elsewhere, funeral prayers for the martyred policeman, Qamar Alam, were offered in Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines in Peshawar.
KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Lt Gen Mahmood, KP Inspector General of Police Mohammad Naeem and other officials participated in the prayers.
CM Khan told reporters that police had launched the operation on a tip off that suspected terrorists were hiding in a house in the Hayatabad area. He said, citing initial reports, that seven terrorists had been hiding in the house.
A local resident said that cross firing had started in the midst of a search operation launched by police in the area.
“The people [suspected terrorists] had been living in the house on a rental basis for almost 15 days. They seemed to be from the rural areas from their appearance. All of them were middle-aged men and there were no women with them. They used to enter and exit the building using the basement door only,” the local told a media outfit.
