Six soldiers among 18 hurt in Risalpur grenade attack

Two motorcyclists hurl hand grenades at army recruiting centre; TTP claims responsibility

NOWSHERA: Eighteen persons, including six soldiers, sustained injuries in a hand-grenade attack outside a recruitment centre in the Risalpur Cantonment on Tuesday, a police official said.

Talking to reporters, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Risalpur Cantonment, Riaz Khan, said two unknown armed motorcyclists threw hand-grenades at the Gate No-III of the Engineers’ Centre in Risalpur Cantonment on the Nowshera-Mardan road at 11am. “The attack was carried out at a time when soldiers were busy preparing the entry passes for the candidates at the gate,” he said.

Twelve job-seekers — Ziauddin, Gul Zaib, Shabbir Ahmed, Liaqat, Nasir, Aqib, Fakhrul Islam, Ahmed, Ismail, Amir Shahzad, Ziaur Rehman and Irfanullah and six soldiers Akbar, Muhammad Pervaiz, Amjad, Mir Hussain Atif and Abdullah — sustained injuries in the attack.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. Its spokesperson Ihsanullah Ihsan called reporters from an unknown location to make the claim.The injured were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Risalpur and District Headquarters Hospital in Nowshera and most were discharged from the hospitals after minor treatment.

The official said that police and security forces reached the site of the blast and launched search operation after blocking the Nowshera-Mardan road to traffic. He said that 11 suspects had been arrested during the search operation in Risalpur, Sais Mandi and Bara Banda and on the Motorway.

Some of the job-seekers while seeking anonymity said the attackers came in a van and threw the grenades at them outside the gate. They said the van came from Mardan side, took a U-turn near the gate and the attackers sitting in the back seat threw the grenades. They said the van then sped away towards Mardan. They said that around 400 aspiring recruits were waiting for their turn to be allowed to enter the centre when they were attacked.

The sources said the Gate No-III was closed down and new date had been announced for the test. The sources disclosed that an inquiry had been ordered into the incident. Locals said that armed soldiers had been guarding the gates and snipers were also positioned in the trenches near the gates but the attackers fled from the scene despite all these security measures.

They said that parents of the children studying at the schools in the area reached the site of the incident in panic. Over the last three days, there have been attacks on the PAF airbase and Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, near a bus stand in Jamrud in Khyber Agency and now at Risalpur.

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