Murad Saeed announces protest against rising terrorism in KP

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Murad Saeed on Thursday announced to hold a peaceful protest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) capital against the rising terrorism, and urged all political party workers to join the protest, Aaj News reported.

In a statement, the former federal minister said peaceful protests would be held in Peshawar after Friday prayers and urged all citizens to participate in the protests regardless of their political affiliations.

He said no protester would hold a party flag. "Instead, we will use white flags as a symbol of peace."

"We will not let the peace that we achieved after sacrificing 80,000 lives be destroyed in any way,” Murad Saeed said, adding that they will not participate in anyone's war ever again.

He also lauded the sacrifices of the people of the KP for peace but lamented the "propaganda and politics" over the Peshawar blast.

Murad Saeed's call for protest comes days after a suicide bomber blew himself at a Peshawar mosque during the afternoon prayers, killing over a hundred people.

Briefing the media on Thursday, KP Police Chief Moazzam Jah Ansari said the police were “closing in” on the terror network behind the suicide attack on a mosque in the Peshawar Police Lines area.

During a presser, he said the police had found ball bearings from the crime scene and a suicide jacket from underneath the rubble of the mosque.

“This was a suicide bomber and we have traced him. The CCTV footage showed his movement from Khyber Road to the Police Lines and how he parked his motorcycle on a side,” he said, adding that the bomber was wearing a police uniform.

“This means that the attacker was not aware of the area..he was given a target and there is an entire network behind him … he was not a lone ranger.”

He said that policemen at the entrance of the Police Lines did not check the attacker because “they thought he was one of their own”.

Ansari revealed that 10-12kg of TNT, a high explosive, was used in the blast.

“The explosion was so powerful that the shockwaves did not find ways to escape hence forcing the roof of the mosque to collapse,” he said.

He added that the mosque also lacked pillars and that everyone in the mosque at the time of the attack came under roof debris.

The police chief said that the police had raised their voice against the attack to “take revenge for each and every martyr”.

“The sacrifices of the policemen will not go in vain.”