Darazinda checkpoint attack: CTD registers case against TTP's Sherani faction and Mishal Group

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has registered a case against militants allegedly linked to two factions of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) over last week’s attack on a checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan’s Darazinda tehsil that killed 14 people.

The first information report (FIR) names “unidentified terrorists allegedly affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)’s Sherani faction and the Mishal Group”, Dawn reported. The case covers terrorism, murder, attempted murder and damage to government property.

What happened

The attack took place on 26 September at the Aman Mela checkpoint in Darazinda, a joint post manned by police and customs and excise staff. Attackers rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the checkpoint and then opened fire. The post had been set up for anti-smuggling operations, and the attack took place on a Saturday.

Police, security forces and CTD teams rushed to the site after the explosion, cordoned off the area and began a search and clearance operation, collecting evidence from the scene, according to earlier reports by Dawn and Al Jazeera.

Toll	Number
Killed	14
Injured	35

The victims

Eleven of the dead have been named. They include two customs officials, Farman Khan and Usama, and nine civilians:

• Mohammad Mehran
• Mohammad Bilal
• Sato Khan
• Faisal Aziz
• Khan Mohammad
• Gul Melaena Bibi
• Gul Zareena Bibi
• Maqoo Bibi
• Abdul Rahim

Rescue ambulance attacked

In a second incident, a Rescue 1122 ambulance carrying one of the bodies was attacked near the Al-Malika Hotel on the Dera Ismail Khan-Zhob Road. Rescue worker Mohammad Sharif was killed and two others were injured.

The investigation

Police said the investigation was continuing as they tried to identify those responsible. The FIR links the attackers to two named groups, the TTP’s Sherani faction and the Mishal Group, but no arrests were reported.

Darazinda lies in the west of Dera Ismail Khan district, close to South Waziristan and to Balochistan’s Zhob district, which the Dera Ismail Khan-Zhob Road connects.

A heated political row

The attack has fed into a bitter debate between the federal government and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over who is responsible for the province’s security. Federal ministers have pointed to the law and order situation in the province, while the provincial government has warned of a strong public response if governor’s rule is imposed and called for a joint counter-terrorism strategy.

Elsewhere in the province, the chief minister has ordered the suspension of a district police chief over the custodial killings of two men in Khyber district.

Security operations elsewhere

Security operations have also been stepped up in neighbouring Balochistan, where the military said last week that more than 71 terrorists had been killed in a four-day operation.

Why it matters

Fourteen people were killed at a single checkpoint, most of them civilians, and a rescue worker died while carrying a victim’s body. Naming the TTP factions in the case is the first formal step towards bringing those responsible to justice, but the families of the dead will judge the investigation by whether anyone is caught.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn and Al Jazeera.