Asif Farouki(Islamabad), Simon FrestomachTher, BBC News
image provided, EPA
Debris from a suicide bombing site in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan. A policeman’s beret was left (January 31)
The death toll from the attack continues to climb, reaching at least 100 by Wednesday. Most were members of the security forces during prayers. More than 50 people were injured, some in critical condition.
One of the deadliest suicide attacks in recent years in Pakistan has shocked the public.
Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan told local media that there were between 300 and 400 police officers around the mosque at the time of the incident.
Peshawar police, which are on the front line against militants, believe the police were targeted to demoralize them.
image provided, Archyde.com
A mass funeral for police officers killed in the January 30 suicide bombing.Rows of coffins wrapped in Pakistani flags
Violence Increases as Ceasefire Abandoned
In November last year, the Taliban Movement of Pakistan (TTP), a hardline Islamist militant group, scrapped a ceasefire agreed with the government. Since then, violence has increased, with frequent attacks on police and soldiers.
There were rumors that the TTP was responsible for the suicide attack on the mosque, but the TTP denies this. He said the commander of the split forces was responsible.
Some observers have questioned the TTP’s denial of any wrongdoing, saying it could be a ruse to distract attention.
What is TTP
The TTP has so far refrained from claiming responsibility for attacks on mosques, schools and markets, saying its violence was aimed at war against the security forces rather than against the Pakistani people.
It has been fighting the Pakistani military and police for years and has suffered a huge number of casualties. A Taliban offshoot of Afghanistan that shares a hardline ideology but is a separate group.
At the top of their vast list of demands is the introduction of Sharia (Islamic law) in their own interpretation in northwestern Pakistan.
About a decade ago, he warned of destabilizing Pakistan from its territories in the mountains along the Afghan border. The area has been a hotbed of extremism for decades.
The most high-profile and internationally condemned TTP attack was the shooting of schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in October 2012. Yousafzai was an advocate for women’s right to education.
Two years later, there was a mass murder at a school in Peshawar. The TTP has not claimed responsibility for the killing of 141 people, most of them children, but a major military attack has severely diminished the group’s influence in Pakistan.
Amid public outrage, the Pakistani army destroyed militant strongholds and drove the rebels across the border into Afghanistan. This has reduced violence by extremists in Pakistan.
However, in recent years, attacks by TTP and others have increased again in northwestern Pakistan.
Even though he returned to his country, he did not give up his weapons
The militants returned to Pakistan but did not agree to hand over their weapons. This was the beginning of the current issue, and the dialogue initiated by Mr. Khan broke down.
image provided, EPA
Experts say the TTP was bolstered by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Image shows Taliban fighters in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, 17 August 2021
The new political and military leaders who came to power after Khan’s downfall in April 2022 refused to comply with the TTP’s demands and halted dialogue. As a result, the ceasefire was broken in November of the same year, and the TTP resumed its offensive.
Ashraf Ali, who runs a blood donation organization, said people in Peshawar live in fear.
“Me, my family, all citizens are deeply traumatized. People are terrified here,” Ali told the BBC.
“Everyone is worried about what will happen next. Peshawar has come a long way from being a city of terror to being a tourist destination, but now Peshawar is being badly affected by terrorism again.”
military and police systems
The Pakistani government claims its military is ready to counter the insurgents. However, the police remain ill-equipped to fight highly trained and well-armed rebels. In some recent attacks by militants, police stations were overrun, and in some cases the officers did not put up a fight.
The public wants the violence to end once and for all. Experts have called for a full-scale military operation, like the one carried out in 2014, to defeat the militants.
Pakistanis have become disheartened and critical of the country’s 20-year repeated response to militants.
Many believe that there is a soft spot in the security and civilian establishments towards armed groups, and that this is why the threat is not adequately dealt with.