Daily Times

MARDAN: Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif arrived at Mardan on Friday Medical Complex to inquire about conditions of the wounded after an attack in District Court that claimed 13 lives. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court Justice Mazhar Alam accompanied the Chief of Army Staff. General Sharif’s visit came within few hours after a suicide bomber entered the District Court and hurled a grenade injuring policemen and locals, prompting one of the wounded security guards to open fire that triggered his suicide vest within the court premises. At least 13 were reported killed while over 40 were injured who were shifted to different hospitals after emergency was imposed. The Chief of Army Staff sympathised with the wounded and reiterated Pakistan Army’s uncompromising stance on extremism. This follows the attack in Quetta last month, which came hours after Bilal Anwar Kasi, then president of Balochistan Bar Council was murdered by unidentified miscreants while he drove his car to work. Lawyers had gathered at the Civil Hospital to receive the late Kasi’s body and stage a protest against the killing. General Raheel Sharif, hailed as the most popular Army Chief by many commentators has paid numerous visits to the injured after terror attacks in different provinces over the course of his tenure.