6 Dead in Pakistan After Suicide Bombers Target Peshawar Security Headquarters By The Media Line Staff Security forces in Pakistan’s northwest confronted a coordinated assault early Monday after attackers targeted the headquarters of the Frontier Constabulary in Peshawar. Officials said the fighting left the three bombers dead, along with several members of the security detail […]
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The Media Line: 6 Dead in Pakistan After Suicide Bombers Target Peshawar Security Headquarters
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6 Dead in Pakistan After Suicide Bombers Target Peshawar Security Headquarters
By The Media Line Staff
Security forces in Pakistan’s northwest confronted a coordinated assault early Monday after attackers targeted the headquarters of the Frontier Constabulary in Peshawar. Officials said the fighting left the three bombers dead, along with several members of the security detail stationed at the compound.
Authorities said the assault began when one bomber detonated himself at the facility’s main gate, triggering a wider exchange inside the compound. Police reported that two additional assailants slipped through the entrance in the chaos before they were located and shot. A senior official speaking to Reuters said the sequence unfolded rapidly. “The first suicide bomber carried out an attack on the main entrance of the constabulary, and the other one entered the compound,” he said.
Local commanders immediately brought in army units and police reinforcements. The same official said the area was sealed off as officers worked to confirm whether more attackers were hiding in the complex. Law enforcement officials cordoned off the area under the suspicion that some terrorists were still on the premises.
Residents described traffic halted in every direction as security forces cleared the surrounding streets.
Peshawar’s police chief, Mian Saeed, said officers confronted the bombers before they reached their intended targets. He briefed reporters that one attacker blew himself up outside the gate, while two made it into the grounds and were killed during the engagement. Authorities continued to search the buildings afterward as part of a broader sweep.
Pakistan’s leadership condemned the attack. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued statements praising the security forces’ response, noting that swift action prevented greater casualties. Both said the country would press ahead with its counterterrorism campaign despite “these cowardly attacks,” and expressed condolences to the families of those killed.
Officials said the complex is located near a military cantonment, in a densely populated section of the city that was placed on lockdown as the clearance operation continued through the morning.