Heads must roll as PAF camp management was warned of attack

ISLAMABAD: Heads must roll as a media report has confirmed that the PAF Badaber management was unambiguously forewarned twice early this month that there are intelligence reports about the possible terrorist attack at the PAF airbase by a group of 13 terrorists.
The warning was issued by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whose head when approached by The News said, “We would not like to comment on security related issues.”
The reporter, who filed the story published in an Urdu daily on Saturday, when approached by a senior staffer of The News disclosed that he was shown by his source the copy of the CTD report. It is said that initially a warning was issued on 3rd September, and later on 8th September a specific and detailed CTD warning was issued to the PAF Badaber management.
The report insisted that not only the PAF camp, attacked on Friday, was precisely forewarned about what the terrorists were planning but the CTD also shared the number of terrorists who were dispatched for this evil job.
According to the CTD report, the terrorist attack was planned jointly by proscribed terrorist organisations, including the TTP, Tehrik-e-Taliban Mohmand, and Laskhar-e-Islam.
The PAF Badaber management, besides certain other possible targets, was told to tighten their security in view of the intelligence reports.
However, despite the reported warnings, Friday witnessed a horrific terrorist attack on PAF base where not only the terrorists succeeded to enter the defence site but martyred at least 30 persons, mostly defence officials.
It appears to be the repetition of certain other serious cases of terrorism which hit Pakistan despite clear early warning by the intelligence agencies.
In 2013, the DI Khan jailbreak was a classic case as despite the specific and accurate intelligence warning, the terrorists had succeeded to achieve their nefarious target. Only a few days before the attack, a letter marked

“secret” and “most immediate” by the country’s intelligence agency addressed to the commissioner, deputy commissioner, deputy inspector generals of police, district police officers and the superintendent of Dera Ismail Khan Central Jail, stated: “It has been reliably learnt that miscreants, namely Umar Khitab and his associates affiliated with Gandapur Group/ TTP, are planning to carry out a terrorist attack on the Central Jail, Dera Ismail Khan, on the pattern of the Bannu jailbreak in the near future.”
According to the information, miscreants were in possession of sketch/ map of the jail and had reached the vicinity of DI Khan for this purpose.
The warning was followed by another demarche to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the following day, on July 28, from the National Crisis Management Cell, Ministry of Interior, Islamabad. The letter marked “secret” and “most immediate” “Threat Alert 699” said: “It has been learnt through reliable source that Umar Khitab along with TTP elements is planning to carry out a Bannu jailbreak-like attack on Dera Ismail Khan Central Prison and for this purpose, the group has reached the vicinity of Dera Ismail Khan.”
The letter dispatched to the KP home secretary, Peshawar, provincial police officer, additional chief secretary, Fata, inspector general of Frontier Corps, KP inspector general prisons and commandant Frontier Constabulary.
To reinforce the urgency of the matter, the officers were again warned through text messages to take appropriate security measures. As a consequence, civil and military officers visited the prison to work out a security plan.
On July 29, hours before the most audacious attack on the prison located in the middle of a populated area, the DI Khan commissioner held a conference of all law-enforcement agencies and the civil administration to discuss the issue.
The intelligence was not merely confined to information about the gathering of militants in DI Khan. The administration was warned that militants would launch a three-pronged attack from Sabzi Mandi, Girls Degree College and the Town Hall where they would park their 14 vehicles.
Despite all this, the attack took place and went on for three hours till 2:00am, with one hour inside the jail compound, and the attackers succeeded in freeing 248 prisoners including 30 hardcore militants.
According to the sources, similarly weeks before the Wagah Border attack, the authorities concerned were warned by the intelligence agencies but yet the terrorist attack could not be prevented. It is interesting to note that a Lahore-based newspaper had published the intelligence alert about the intelligence report of a possible attack at the Wagah border as a lead story but still the terrorists successfully struck.
There were also intelligence warnings timely issued in certain other cases like the Karachi Airport attack and GHQ attack. In October last year, warnings were even issued about terrorists planning to attack an army public school.