PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zulfiqar Hameed said that they found key evidence about terrorist network that carried out attacks on Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak and Bannu Cantt.
“The network has been traced,” said IGP Hameed while talking to journalists in Peshawar, adding that important evidence have been collected in both cases, and several individuals have been taken into custody in connection with the terrorist incidents.
He added that further details will be shared after more arrests are made.
A suicide bombing at Darul Uloom Haqqania resulted in the deaths of eight people, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Samiul Haq (JUI-S) leader Maulana Hamid ul Haq.
In the attack on Bannu Cantonment, security forces killed 16 terrorists, while five security personnel also lost their lives.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on March 5 stated that security forces successfully thwarted a cowardly terrorist attack on Bannu Cantonment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing all 16 militants who attempted to intrude into the facility on March 4.
“In this intense exchange of fire, five brave soldiers, after putting up a heroic resistance, embraced martyrdom in the line of duty,” the military’s media wing added.
As many as thirteen civilians were also martyred and 32 others were injured as a result of destruction caused by suicide blasts during the clash.
“On 4 March 2025, a cowardly terrorist attack was attempted on Bannu Cantonment by Khwarij elements. The assailants sought to breach the cantonment’s security; however, their nefarious designs were swiftly and decisively foiled by the vigilant and resolute response of Pakistan’s security forces,” the ISPR said.
On the other hand, a top official of Darul Uloom Haqqania was among eight people killed, while at least 18 others sustained injuries in a suicide blast that targeted the historic seminary’s mosque in Nowshera on February 28.
The bomb exploded in the front row soon after Friday prayers as worshipers were leaving the congregation at the Darul Uloom Haqqania mosque in Akora Khattak, located about 60 kilometers (35 miles) east of Peshawar.
KP IGP Hameed had told Geo News that Maulana Hamid, the son of Maulana Sami-ul-Haq Haqqani, was the target of the attack.