Is Peshawar Becoming the Most...
Is Peshawar Becoming the Most Dangerous City in the World? Peshawar:Several months ago it was rumored that fighters affiliated with the Pakistan Taliban Movement (TTP) might take control of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan´s North West Frontier Province (Pakhtunkhwa). Pakistan´s government, however, rejected the claim saying that the authorities had the situation under control and the fear of the Taliban was baseless. However, over the past few months Peshawar has become the main target of armed attacks. But this time the nature of the terrorist attacks is totally different: as well as suicide bomb explosions, the terrorists are kidnapping and killing foreign officials and ambassadors. An attack on the vehicle of a U.S. consulate officer, the kidnapping of the Afghani ambassador and the killing of a U.S. aid agency officer in Peshawar are some of the challenging cases Pakistan´s authorities are dealing with. According to police records, 124 kidnapping cases were registered during the current year. Police say that half of these cases are abductions for ransom. In most cases, criminal groups are kidnapping people from the city area and then selling them to different Taliban groups in the tribal areas or to Afghanistan. Taliban sources claim the ransom money is usually deposited in the Jihad organization´s coffers. Bashir Bilour, an Pashtoonkhwa senior minister, says that the kidnapping of foreign nationals is a move to defame the province and its people and to give a sense of insecurity to aid agencies that are working on different developmental projects in the region. Peshawar is a city of 2.242 million people (excluding the Afghan population of approximately 0.4 million) and is located in a region that has been the hub of militant activities for the last 30 years. The CIA-sponsored Jihad organization in neighboring Afghanistan introduced heroin and a Kalashnikov culture to Peshawar’s residents and the new phenomenon of Pakistani Taliban insurgency has caused the city to descend into chaos. Peshawar’s proximity to Khyber, Dara Adam Khel and the Mohmand tribal regions has made it an easy target for different armed groups. Once called the city of roses, the historic city has now become the city of fear and terror. Last week, a car bomb explosion killed 35 people and wounded 85 more in the city’s famous Qissa Khawani bazaar. Police Insp.-Gen. Malik Navid called the incident in the heart of the city ´´very serious,” and urged the federal government to provide his force with the necessary equipment and facilities to combat the attacks. The wounds of Friday’s bomb explosion were yet to be healed when 300 armed men stormed two transport terminals used as bases for supplies to U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, killing a security guard and torching more than 250 containers. The incident occurred on the busy ring road that connects the main city with the modern town of Hayatabad. Alfaisal Terminal’s supervisor, Shah Iran, told the media that it was the second attack on his terminal and that the police had completely failed to provide protection to transport companies supplying military hardware to Western forces in Afghanistan. Though no one has taken responsibility for the incident, Hakimulla Mehsud, central commander of the TTP, had said, a few weeks ago, that his fighters would continue to target U.S. and NATO supplies unless U.S. air strikes inside Pakistan were stopped. Last month, Taliban militants attacked a convoy of 12 vehicles supplying goods to Afghanistan and kidnapped 26 people in the Khyber tribal agency, close to the Pakistani-Afghan border. Political observers believe that there are political motives behind the attacks on foreign nationals and NATO supplies: a local terrorist incident might not get as much coverage in the international media as the killing or kidnapping of a single foreign citizen. The deteriorating law and order situation in the Swat valley is another serious challenge for security agencies. The conflict has not only pushed thousands of people toward the already overburdened city of Peshawar, it has also dented people’s trust in the government’s ability to restore peace. The unending series of terrorist incidents has created a feeling of insecurity among Peshawar residents. Siyar Khan, a property dealer in Hayatabad township told The Media Line that property prices were on the decline and many people were selling their properties and investing their money in the Islamabad and Dubai markets. The locals complain that Peshawar is regarded as the frontline city in the so-called war against terror, but the emotional and physical sacrifices rendered by its people are not being appropriately compensated by either Pakistan´s federal government or the international community. ´´If I am in the frontline province, then why I am always left in the lurch and all the money is spent on developmental projects in other provinces, ´´ asked Shir Ali Khan, a political worker affiliated with the Pashtun nationalist Awami National party. - 
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