Police bravely foiled a terrorist attack on a local judicial building after targeting two terrorists shot dead while the third died when he detonated his suicide jacket at Tangi, District Charsadda on Tuesday. However, seven persons were killed and 28 others injured. The terrorists were armed with weapons and hand grenades.
According to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Mardan Region, Ijaz Khan, the terrorists first while confronting police opened indiscriminate firing and then hurled hand grenades towards police. "A group of three terrorists tried to enter the premises for subversive activities when they were spotted by the police and asked to stop. But, they started firing on police and threw hand grenade towards them. One of the terrorist detonated his suicide vest near the gate of the court while the two other terrorists were shot dead in encounter with the police," he explained.
The firing and blasts resulted in the killing of seven persons and injuring of 28 others. The injured were also included five police personnel identified as Fazl Rabbi, Ishtaiq, Bilal, Munsif and Usman. The DIG Police said that the timely action of police personnel and stoppage of the terrorists from entering into the court premises prevented a big tragedy. The Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa has lauded the prompt response of the security forces to Charsadda blast.
After the incident, a search operation has been launched in the surrounding areas to find the facilitators of the terrorists group and bring the perpetrators to justice. The law enforcement agencies have also collected evidences and body parts of the bombers from the site of explosion and sent them to forensic laboratory. After the incident, district administration declared emergency in District Headquarters Hospital, Charsadda, Aftab Sherpao Hospital Tangi and Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Peshawar.
Talking to media, PTI Member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Shaukat Yousafzai said that the militants had come from the adjacent tribal area of Mohmand Agency. In the wake of terrorists' strikes in Lahore, Sehwan Sharif and Peshawar, he said the security agencies have been put on high alert in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying the culprits involved in Tangi attack could not escape from clutches of law and would be brought to justice soon.
It may be recalled that in March 2016, at least 16 persons were killed and 20 were injured in a similar attack on a local court building in Shabqadar district, Charsadda.