The Fear of the Known

Two weeks after the deadly terrorist attack on a mosque in Peshawar, a sense of insecurity is prevailing in the provincial capital

PESHAWAR: Two weeks after the deadly terrorist attack on a mosque inside well-secured premises of the Police Lines in Peshawar, a sense of insecurity among politicians, government officials and police is prevailing in the provincial capital as movement and attending events by the elites has considerably reduced amid fears of further attacks.

The attack, claimed by the KP police to be a suicide one, killed scores of people, mostly policemen during prayer time. The number of martyrs is still contested as media and hospital sources had put the casualties at 102. However, police officials have said the actual death toll was 84 and that the initial figure of over 100 was due to counting some of the bodies more than once.

According to Peshawar-based anchorperson and political analyst Irfan Khan, the concern of politicians including those in the interim setup, bureaucrats and government officials is real as the threat of more attacks looms large over the provincial capital. “Even though the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the main threat to security, has said time and again that civilians are not their targets, it is never enough as anything can happen at any time and place,” Khan said.

He added that there were reports of bureaucrats, politicians and other government officials receiving threatening calls. “Many notables have stopped going out to official or public events due to security concerns. Some have restricted their movement to indoor events in secure environments only,” Irfan Khan expressed.

Realizing the severity of terrorist threats, government offices have beefed up the security of offices and staff. It is learnt that government employees are now properly checked before they can access their offices. “Security clearance of class four and lower grade government employees has now been made mandatory since last Tuesday. This shows the concern and seriousness of the high-ranking government officials about their security,” a source in one of the government departments in Peshawar informed Bol News.

Terrorist attacks on security forces and particularly on Police continue across the province. Last Tuesday, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Moazzam Jah Ansari on record told the provincial election commission that at least 494 terrorist attacks were targeted at policemen, police stations and checkpoints, and police vehicles in 2022. In the first six weeks of 2023, the attacks on police have continued with the same intensity, if not increased.

But, the threat of terrorist attacks isn’t the only fear limiting the movement of police and government officials. There are reports that a number of top officials have been worried about telephone calls from unknown people demanding extortion money. In some cases, these threatening calls have forced officials to completely stop their movement from outside Peshawar, particularly officials who routinely used to travel to their native villages over weekends have stopped that practice due to threats.

Similarly, police officials in particular are advised not to travel unless it was extremely necessary. Since they were the main target of the terrorists, top officials in the police are provided extra security. However, according to some experts including Irfan Khan, these additional precautions are not because of fear of attacks but because the officials realize that police are the first line of defence for civilians and defenders getting targeted would send out a scary message to common people as they would lose confidence if their defenders continue getting targeted.

Politicians, most importantly Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders of the previous provincial government, and current interim ministers and advisors are also under fear. They have visibly reduced their movement, avoiding all outdoor events. One example is that of Kashmir Solidarity Day on Feb 5. Although there were noticeable events in any part of the province, No VIPs visited any event organized on the said day mainly because of the fear of terrorist attacks.

Furthermore, the Election Commission of Pakistan has announced March 16 as the polling date for by-polls on eight vacant national assembly constituencies in the province.  As the filing of nomination papers started last Monday. However, despite the short time left in the elections, there has been no political hustle and bustle, no corner meetings and no visits of politicians and candidates to public gatherings. The only visible reason is that political leaders fear the risks of target killings and terrorist attacks on large public rallies.