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Mystery how suicide bomber managed to sneak in to Peshawar mosque

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4 years ago

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 The January 31 suicide bombing at the sprawling mosque in Peshawar’s Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines area was among the deadliest to hit this city.

Headquarters to capital city police and half a dozen other units including the frontier reserve police, the special security unit of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the counter terrorism department, the elite force, telecommunication, rapid response force and special combat unit, it is no ordinary facility, Dawn reported.

With a single entry and exit point, where guards ask all visitors for identification and search their vehicles, it is a mystery how a suicide bomber managed to sneak in, and that too with explosives.

Investigators acknowledge it is not an easy case to solve.

With more than 2,000 staff working for the many units, and two to three hundred visitors daily, profiling each individual alongside reviewing hours of CCTV footage from the lone camera outside the mosque’s front gate and the compound, will be a time-consuming and painstaking task.

Equally difficult is collecting forensic evidence from underneath the debris of the collapsed roof that caused the most damage and casualties, Dawn reported.

A chapter of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from Mohmand, which accepted responsibility for the attack, described the bomber as 25-year-old Huzaifa — probably an organisational name given to an individual, like Ehsanullah Ehsan.

Police have so far recovered two heads from under the rubble, so mutilated that they could not be run through the Nadra database for positive identification.

Efforts are now on to reconstruct the faces and produce identikits, Dawn reported.

The high-walled compound is manned by police round the clock. It is difficult to get in without being questioned and asked for identity papers.

However, in the absence of a single command authority, six to eight police guards can barely cope with the task of searching and establishing the identities of the 2,000-plus staff and the hundreds of visitors that pass these gates every day.

“There was a security lapse,” acknowledged the Inspector General of Police, Moazzam Jah.

Senior police officials say that while there has been an alarming and disturbing increase in threat alerts of possible militant attacks in some key districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there was no specific threat from the intelligence agencies regarding the Police Lines compound, Dawn reported.

Investigators continue to pore over hours of video footage and check the personal profiles of thousands of employees to look for possible suspects.

There are also procedural questions: did the bomber walk in through the main gate; did he carry the explosives on him or was there someone inside the compound that helped him smuggle the explosives in beforehand. Intelligence and police sources speculate that the bomber couldn’t have pulled off such an audacious task without inside help, Dawn reported.

Soon after the bombing, TTP’s Mohmand chapter — formerly known as the Jamaatul Ahrar — claimed responsibility for the attack through its social media handles, saying that it was carried out to avenge the death of its leader, Umar Khalid Khurasani, who was killed in Afghanistan in August 2022, the fourth such revenge attack so far.

A little later, however, TTP Central issued a denial, insisting it was against its policy to attack mosques.

Investigators believe this was a distraction, since the militant commander who accepted responsibility for the bombing had only recently been appointed by TTP Central to head the Zhob Division (Wilayah in militants’ parlance) in Balochistan.

Amaq, a news agency linked to the Islamic State, also made its own claim of responsibility for the attack, Dawn reported.

Police and investigating agencies, however, see the TTP’s fingerprints on the attack.

Investigators believe that the militant groups that form the TTP enjoy operational independence, even if their actions are at variance with the organisation’s central policy guidelines.

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International News

Iran to pursue US seizure of commercial ship during truce in international courts: official

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1 day ago

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October 3, 2026

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Tehran, Oct 3: A senior Iranian shipping official has said the country will pursue in international courts the US attack on and seizure of one of its container ships, which took place in April during the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, the official news agency IRNA reported Saturday.

Mohammad-Reza Modarres Khiabani, CEO of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, made the remarks at a meeting in Tehran while describing as a “war crime” the US forces’ boarding and seizure of the Iranian-flagged vessel Touska off the coast of Iran’s southeastern Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman on April 19, said the report.

He said the ship was carrying medicines related to the Iranian Red Crescent Society and dialysis patients, noting that attacking a commercial ship during the ceasefire constitutes a “war crime and violation of the truce,” Xinhua News Agency reported.

He also said that the imposition of any form of naval blockade violated international law and constituted a “hostile” act, alleging that the US Navy struck Touska’s engine room and took 28 crew members hostage.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump declined to reveal his next move on Iran, saying the situation was “working out very well” and predicting that the conflict would not last long.

Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the White House before departing aboard Marine One.

Asked what his next step regarding Iran would be, Trump initially suggested that disclosing it would make major news.

“That’s very, oh, it’s — well, if I told you, you’d have a major story, right? But you’ll see. Working out very well. Iran is not doing well,” Trump said.

The President did not elaborate on what action his administration was considering or provide a timetable.

But later in the same exchange with reporters, Trump again referred to Iran while discussing global energy supplies and his efforts to get Europe to put more diesel into the market.

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Capt Smit Machchhar under excellent medical care, recovering well: Indian Embassy in UAE

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1 day ago

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October 3, 2026

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Abu Dhabi, Oct 3: Captain Smit Machchhar, the brave Indian pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073, is responding well to treatment and continues to receive medical attention, the Indian Embassy in the UAE said on Saturday.

The mission said it was coordinating with his family and local authorities. It also thanked the UAE government for the care being extended to him.

“Indian braveheart Capt. Smit remains under excellent medical care & is recovering well. We are in touch with his family & local authorities, extending support for a speedy recovery. Our thanks to UAE gov. for their care. We join well-wishers in praying for his good health,” the Indian mission posted on X.

Captain Machchhar was injured while preventing a mid-air attack on Wednesday aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Israel.

During the incident, another pilot stabbed Captain Machchhar and the aircraft began to plummet.

The Indian pilot fought the assailant bravely and opened the cockpit door, following which passengers rushed to assist, entered the cockpit and overpowered the attacker.

Once the attacker was subdued, the seriously wounded Indian pilot was stabilised until the aircraft made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke with Captain Machchhar over a video call, praising his courage, presence of mind and composure during the mid-air incident in which he helped save the lives of passengers and crew members.

During the conversation, PM Modi said the country could proudly say that Indians are not those who take lives, but those who are willing to risk their own lives to save others.

PM Modi began the conversation by asking about Captain Machchhar’s health and said the entire country was praying for his speedy recovery.

“The whole country is praying for you. Maha Mrityunjaya Jaap is being performed for you and your health. Your courage, presence of mind and composure saved many lives. The country can proudly say that Indians are not those who take lives, but those who are willing to risk their lives to save others,” PM Modi said.

Captain Machchhar nodded and responded, “Yes, sir.”

The Indian pilot has also received recognition from across the world, with leaders and people lauding his bravery and actions that helped save hundreds of lives during the mid-air attack.

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Dubai Crown Prince visits Captain Machchhar, says brave Indian pilot embodies ‘highest degrees of courage’

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1 day ago

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October 3, 2026

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Abu Dhabi, Oct 3: Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Saturday visited the brave Indian pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073, Smit Machchhar, in the hospital and praised his courage.

“During a visit to Captain Smit Machchhar… the flydubai pilot who embodied the highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life. From us, and from the leadership of the nation, he has our full appreciation and praise. We are proud that he is part of our team… part of the story of our nation… and part of what the UAE stands for… a nation of compassion… a nation of peace… and a nation of life,” Hamdan bin Mohammed, who is also UAE’s Minister of Defence and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, wrote on X after the meeting.

Earlier, the Indian Embassy in the UAE said Captain Machchhar is responding well to treatment and continues to receive medical attention.

The mission said it was coordinating with his family and local authorities. It also thanked the UAE government for the care being extended to him.

“Indian braveheart Capt. Smit remains under excellent medical care & is recovering well. We are in touch with his family & local authorities, extending support for a speedy recovery. Our thanks to the UAE gov. for their care. We join well-wishers in praying for his good health,” the Indian mission posted on X.

Captain Machchhar was injured while preventing a mid-air attack on Wednesday aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Israel.

During the incident, another pilot stabbed Captain Machchhar and the aircraft began to plummet.

The Indian pilot fought the assailant bravely and opened the cockpit door, following which passengers rushed to assist, entered the cockpit and overpowered the attacker.

Once the attacker was subdued, the seriously wounded Indian pilot was stabilised until the aircraft made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke with Captain Machchhar over a video call, praising his courage, presence of mind and composure during the mid-air incident in which he helped save the lives of passengers and crew members.

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