Peshawar Badaber attack: 29 personnel martyred, 13 terrorists killed
Captain Asfandyar embraced martyrdom in the operation, reports ISPR
PESHAWAR (Dunya News / AFP) – Terrorists in early hours of Friday attacked residential airbase camp of PAF in Peshawar, martyring 29 people worshipping at a mosque, the ISPR reported.
According to DG ISPR Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, the terrorists split in two groups as they entered the camp at two points. The Quick Response Force (QRF) immediately responded, containing the attackers within a close area.
29 security personnel were martyred in Badaber camp
Reportedly, a group rushed to the camp mosque, martyring 16 personnel who were offering Fajr prayer. At least 13 terrorists have been killed during exchange of fire. A total of 29 personnel have embraced martyrdom during incident.
The breakdown of the 29 martyred personnel is as follows:
- 23 PAF personnel, out of which 16 were martyred in mosque while 7 were martyred in baracks.
- 3 Army personnel, 1 officer and 2 jawans.
- 4 civilans employed by PAF
The number of injured personnel also stands at 29
Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asim Bajwa told the media that the terrorists who attacked Peshawar’s Badaber airbase’s mosque came from and were controlled from Afghanistan.
DG ISPR said as many as 13-14 terrorists stormed the airbase’s mosque at 5am in the morning and dispersed into two groups there. One group went towards the administrative part while the other to the technical side of the airbase, he told.
The attackers were dressed in constabulary uniforms: General Bajwa
He told that a faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan was involved in the attack, adding that intelligence institutions are further investigating it.
Funeral prayers of the martyred personnel have been held at Badaber air force camp where Prime Minister Nawaz, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak, Federal Minister for Defence Khwaja Asif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif were in attendace along with other officials. The bodies of the martyred have been sent to their home towns.
Terrorists who attacked Peshawar’s Badaber airbase’s mosque came from and were controlled from Afghanistan: DG ISPR
Bajwa said operations were continuing to flush out any remaining gunmen and hailed the defenders reaction to the attack.
He said Peshawar s Brigade Commander led the operation along with specialist "quick response" forces, army commandos and air force personnel.
13 terrorists have been killed in the clearance operation
In a message posted on Twitter, the DG ISPR confirmed martyrdom of Captain Asfandyar.
Update:Capt Asfandyar embraced shahadat while fighting valiantly and leading his troops from the front-10 pic.twitter.com/8QABikzDOZ
— AsimBajwaISPR (@AsimBajwaISPR) September 18, 2015
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group claimed responsibility in an e-mail sent to journalists, saying their "suicide unit" carried out the attack. Three PAF technicians named Shan and Tariq along with one other personnel has also embraced martyrdom in the attack.
A senior PAF official told AFP the facility attacked on Friday was a residential camp for air force personnel. The attackers were dressed in constabulary uniforms.
There were no air assets including combat aircraft deployed at the base: PAF source
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif and Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Sohail Aman paid visit to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) to meet the injured. The COAS was also briefed about the situation in Corps Headquarters (HQ).
"There are no air assets including combat aircraft deployed at the base," he said, requesting anonymity.
The list of martyred personnel include (but not restricted to) the following:
-Captain Isfandyar
-Chief Technican Sardar
-Chief Technican Munir
-Senior Technican Nadeem
-Senior Technican Javed
-Junior Technican Shan Ali
-Junior Technican Tariq
-Junior Technican Saqib
-Junior Technican Shahab
-Naik Tariq
-CD Hussain
-Stenographer Israr
-Cook Zain Khan
-Sig Man Suhaib Abbasi
-Kareem
-Khateeb Ameen
The army launched the "Zarb-e-Azb" operation in June 2014 in a bid to wipe out militant bases in North Waziristan tribal area and so bring an end to the bloody decade-long insurgency that has cost Pakistan thousands of lives.
Peshawar suffered the worst terror attack in Pakistani history in December when Taliban gunmen stormed an army-run school and massacred more than 150 people, most of them children.
The army intensified its offensive after the school attack and since then there has been something of a lull in violence. The last major attack in the city came in February when three heavily armed Taliban militants stormed an imambargah, killing 21 people.
