![Peshawar Senior Superintendent of Police Abbas Majeed Marwat (in white, centre) visits central Peshawar July 4 to inspect security before Eid ul Fitr. [Javed Khan]](/cnmi_pf/images/2016/07/15/5831-eid-javed1-739_416.webp)
PESHAWAR -- Tight security arrangements allowed Ramadan and Eid ul Fitr to pass peacefully throughout Pakistan, officials told Central Asia Online.
Authorities ahead of Eid heard warnings that six terrorists had entered Peshawar to carry out attacks in the city, media reported. However, nobody staged a terrorist attack in Peshawar during Eid.
"The holy month and Eid ul Fitr were observed peacefully all over Peshawar and the rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP], thanks to the police and soldiers who remained on their toes throughout," Peshawar Capital City Police Officer Mubarak Zeb said.
Police were deployed throughout the provincial capital with a special emphasis on securing trade centres and mosques, he said.
"It was good teamwork that helped maintain peace," he told Central Asia Online.
Hundreds of officers guarded Peshawar alone, including 25 rapid response force members who patrolled alongside regular police. Police guarding the entry points to the KP capital received reinforcements.
"It was like a 24-hour job for police as thousands of people were coming everyday for Eid shopping before and after iftar," Wajid Shah, station house officer of University Town police station, told Central Asia Online.
"It was all because of the efforts of the police that Ramadan and Eid both remained peaceful in all our four districts," Mardan Deputy Inspector General of Police Muhammad Tahir Khan told Central Asia Online.
In addition, Mardan Range police arrested a number of suspects accused of involvement in bombings and other terror attacks in the past few months, he said.
Parks, tourist spots secured on Eid
Hundreds of thousands of tourists thronged Galiat, Naran, Kaghan and other picnic spots in Hazara Division, KP, on Eid, observed July 6-11.
"It all went peacefully even though about 80,000 vehicles of tourists entered Abbottabad District alone every day," Deputy Superintendent of Police for Abbottabad Haroon Badshah told Central Asia Online.
During Eid, KP Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani visited various remote posts and inspected security arrangements for tourists in Hazara.
He expressed his general satisfaction with security.
"KP Police is one of the bravest forces in Pakistan and has sacrificed the most for the peace of the country," Durrani said during his inspection tour.
Militant threats to wreak terror during Ramadan and Eid proved empty in most of Pakistan.
"Tight security in KP and the rest of Pakistan made it possible to observe Ramadan and Eid peacefully," said Peshawar based journalist Imran Bukhari.
Thousands of shoppers and visitors could be seen in markets ahead of Eid and in parks and tourist spots during and after Eid, he said.
"Not a single untoward incident happened anywhere, which speaks highly of the success of security agencies all over the country," Bukhari told Central Asia Online.
TTP senior commander killed
While Ramadan and Eid passed peacefully in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Punjab, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan was less fortunate.
Several terrorist acts occurred in that province during Ramadan, including the slaying of four Frontier Corps troops, four police officers and three individuals in separate terrorist acts from June 24 through June 30.
Security forces, though, took one senior Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander off the battlefield, killing him in a shoot-out in Battagram, KP, July 10.
"Hafiz Nisar was the chief of the TTP for Torghar and Shangla districts," Deputy Inspector General of Police for Hazara District Mohammad Saeed Wazir told Central Asia Online.
Nisar was killed a day after he attacked a police post in Mansehra and killed one policeman, Wazir said.
"One of his accomplices was arrested wounded after the encounter [in Battagram]," he added.
Federal Minister of Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan recently expressed his appreciation for the army, police, Rangers and other security agencies for maintaining peace during Eid.
"The police and soldiers who remained away from their homes on Eid solely to ensure security have done a remarkable job," he said in a July 8 statement. "They all must be appreciated for it."
