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Attacks increase fears of Peshawar’s fall to Taliban

* Residents of the city’s Hayatabad locality believe fall is imminent

By Daud Khattak

PESHAWAR: The fresh arson attacks by terrorists on NATO supplies outside Peshawar have deepened apprehensions of the possible fall of the city to the Taliban.

The armed men stormed two poorly guarded freight terminals on the city’s Ring Road in the early hours on December 7 and burnt around 150 vehicles bound for NATO forces in Afghanistan. A similar attack was carried out on December 8 at exactly the same time on the same road, and the assailants, chanting slogans of “Allah-o-Akbar” and “death to America” burned 50 more trucks and armoured vehicles.

In an attack on December 1, the Taliban had torched 21 vehicles, including 18 military trucks, one crane and two Humvees. A total of three people have so far been killed and another three injured in the three attacks. Citizens question the ability of police and armed forces to ensure the writ of the government after attacks on areas less than a kilometre away from Peshawar. The attacks have also forced many people to believe the fall of the city to the Taliban was imminent if the situation persisted.

Many of the people living in the city’s upscale areas like Hayatabad have already shifted their families to their native towns and villages. “We’ve stopped evening walks and attending dinners outside,” said Ashraf Ali, a dweller of phase six of the upscale locality. “People from Peshawar and other parts of NWFP had come to Hayatabad to live in a peaceful atmosphere and ensure better education to their children, but they are returning to the city again in the face of looming Taliban threat to the area (Hayatabad).”

He said all shop owners in phase six closed down after Isha (night) prayers and a complete silence prevailed in the area. “I have stopped offering Isha prayers in mosque fearing something bad,” said Ashraf Ali. The upscale Hayatabad township is among the city’s most expensive and well-planned area with all the facilities of modern life, including well-paved roads and streets, communication, hospitals, schools and parks.

However, its proximity to the Jamrud and Bara areas of Khyber Agency, where Taliban activity has increased during the previous month, has harassed the residents. The kidnapping of Afghan and Iranian diplomats recently has further deepened the fear. “Hayatabad has become the most insecure area nowadays,” said another resident Shaheen Buneri. People, who had come here in search of a peaceful life, were now shifting their families and the sharp decline of property rates here testified to that, he said. A senior government official told Daily Times, “We can no longer reassure the people with words that things will get better. This is terrible ... this is getting out of control now.”

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