PESHAWAR: Owners on Thursday closed all cinemas in the provincial capital indefinitely over threats of terrorist attacks.

The development comes in the wake of the bombings of two local cinemas, including Picture House near Qissa Khwani and Shama Cinema on Pejagi Road this month, which left at least 18 people dead.

“We have closed the cinema for indefinite period as police have refused to provide us with security. There are threats of terrorist attacks. The best way to handle the situation is to close cinemas close,” manager of a cinema told Dawn.

He said managements of local cinemas had time and again requested police to provide them with security, but to no avail.

“Police never took our request seriously.

The manager said cinemas had private guards, who checked visitors at entrance, but they didn’t have walkthrough gates and detectors for explosives.

“It is impossible for us to adopt expensive security measures on our own for low revenue. There was a time when we had full day and night shows daily but these days, the number has reduced to one or two as the people don’t come even close to cinemas,” he said.

When contacted, Peshawar SSP (Operations) Najeebur Rehman said police had time and again asked owners of cinemas to adopt ‘reasonable’ security measures, appoint young and energetic guards, and install closed circuit television cameras and walkthrough gates on the premises, but to no avail.

“We cannot deploy police at every cinema and shop as we despite being understaffed are fighting militancy and have to cover the areas bordering Khyber Agency,” he said.

The SSP said after the promulgation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Restriction of Rented Buildings (Security) Ordinance and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hotels Restriction (Security) Ordinance, police would ensure the checking of suspected people in buildings.Meanwhile, during a visit to different cinemas in the city on Thursday, Dawn observed that the places were deserted and that the huge panaflex boards with names of different movies were either removed, covered or folded.

The main gates were locked with private guards from behind them asking visitors that cinemas were closed for indefinite period.

Security arrangements there were found to be unsatisfactory causing fears that terrorists could target them without difficulty.

Owners of the cinemas were not available for comments on the situation.

DAWN

13 people were killed and at least 35 were injured on February 11, 2014 in a grenade attack on Shama Cinema, situated near the busy Bacha Khan Square in Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber-Pakhtunkhuwa province. The cinema was known for sometimes showing pornographic films in one of its auditoriums. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The blast at the cinema came 11 days after a similar attack at Picture House Cinema, situated in the Kabuli Bazaar area of Peshawar.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ejaz Ahmed said that three grenades were thrown in the cinema hall during a show. The first hand grenade was detonated near the the front, the second in the back of the cinema, and the third blast followed. Up to 80 people were present in the cinema at the time of the explosions, according to the police officer.

The onwers of Shama Cinema had been receiving threats and had informed the police accordingly. However, the police did not take any steps besides directing the cinema owners to install CCTV cameras.

Condemning the incident, political leaders termed it a step to derail peace talks between the Government and representatives of the Taliban. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid condemned the incident and denied any involvement of Tehrik-e-Taliban.

Five individuals killed in attack on Peshawar cinema

Two hand grenades were lobbed inside the Picture House cinema during the screening of a Pashto film Zidi Pakhtun (stubborn Pakhtun) on February 2, in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan which borders Aghanistan. PPF reported on February 3 that the Pakistani Taliban group Jundallah had claimed responsibility for the attack, in retaliation for the screening of the film which was considered “anti-Shariah”.

According to the police report, the grenades were hurled by a person seated near the back of the theatre.

One of the hand-grenades landed in the middle of the cinema and the other on the head of a man in the audience. Five people were killed and more than 30 were injured.

Police said that cinema houses in the city were already under threat and they had warned the cinema house owners of the attacks and asked them to make proper security arrangements. However, the cinema administration was found to be careless and neglectful.

IFEX

PESHAWAR: Hopes for a respite from terror attacks raised by peace talks between government and Taliban negotiators were dashed yet again when a triple grenade attack on a cinema left 13 people dead and 23 injured here on Tuesday.

According to Reuters news agency, Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid denied his group’s involvement and there was no immediate claim of responsibility from any other militant group.

According to a police official, the grenades were hurled by someone inside the Shama Cinema on Pajagi Road. The victims were watching a Pashto movie, Yarana.

It was the second such attack on a cinema hall in 10 days. On Feb 2, five people were killed and 30 injured when grenades exploded in the Picture House, near the Khan Raziq police station.

Peshawar police chief Ijaz Khan said his department had already informed administrations of cinema halls about threats they faced and advised them to strengthen their security.

“Chinese-made hand-grenades were used in the attack,” he said.

“The first explosion took place about 30 minutes after the film began,” injured Wazir Mohammad said in the Lady Reading Hospital. Everyone ran to the exit but there was another explosion when he reached near the gate and was hit by pellets on his legs.

An eyewitness said he saw pools of blood on the floor and a number of seats destroyed.

Afghan refugee Gulbahar Khan told Dawn that he and his friend were watching the film and they couldn’t see who hurled the grenades because of darkness in the hall. “I received wounds on my back,” he said.

The manager and other staff of the cinema fled after the explosions, a policeman said when asked about security measures taken in the wake of threats.

The police official said two grenades had been lobbed towards the rear of the hall and the third one towards the exit.

An employee standing outside the Picture House which was attacked on Feb 2 said the number of film viewers since the attack had decreased drastically from about 150 in the two daytime shows to 40 and to only 10 to 12 in the night shows.

DAWN

PESHAWAR: Three back-to-back explosions occurred inside Peshawar’s Shama Cinema on Tuesday, killing 11 people and leaving at least 19 others injured.

According to Dawn News, multiple explosions occurred when a show was ongoing in the cinema.

Subsequently, 11 people were killed whereas 19 others were injured, an official at Lady Reading Hospital, Syed Jameel Shah, said where the wounded persons were shifted by rescue sources for medical treatment.

However, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ejaz Ahmed said eight people were killed and 22 others were injured.

An emergency was imposed in LRH and additional staff was urgently summoned.

Ahmed furthermore said three grenades were used and up to 80 people were in the cinema at the time of the explosions, according to news agency AFP.

Meanwhile, security forces cordoned off the site of attack whereas army personnel sealed the area from Shami Road.

Shama Cinema is situated in the busy Bacha Khan Chowk area of Peshawar.

The blast at the cinema came 11 days after a similar attack at Picture House Cinema situated in Kabuli Bazaar area of Peshawar.

The attack also came as negotiators for the federal government and for Taliban militants met for a second time today as part of efforts to end the bloody seven-year insurgency.

Scraps of human flesh, blood-soaked shoes and caps littered the floor of the hall after the blasts, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Akbar Khan, 62, whose left arm and left thigh were injured, told AFP from his hospital bed that he was watching a movie when a deafening blast rocked the auditorium.

“It seemed like a hot iron rod pierced through my left arm and leg as I was hit by ball bearings,” he said. “I ran towards the gate, from where I was taken to hospital.”

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid denied involvement. “We condemn the blast, its not our activity,” he told Reuters.

Backlash against PTI

Awami National Party’s (ANP) leader Zahid Khan strongly condemned the attack and termed it a failure of security. He criticised the peace process and alleged that Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was a liar, adding that people behind the bombing wanted to destroy the country.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan expressed sorrow over the loss of precious lives whereas former president Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the incident.

Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain immediately demanded the arrest of the people responsible for the attack.

Imran Khan said the blasts were an attempt to sabotage peace efforts.

DAWN

Terrorists struck again on Sunday, lobbing two grenades into a Peshawar cinema house as people watched a Pushto movie. Four persons were killed and at least 31 others injured for enjoying a normal, legitimate entertainment. Published pictures of the incident presented a scene of utter devastation with blood splattered all over the floor and shoes left behind by panic-stricken survivors as they rushed out to save their lives. The usual suspect, the TTP, said it had nothing to do with the carnage. It may not have ordered this particular attack, but one of its affiliate groups certainly is responsible for it. The KPK government offered an unpalatable explanation as the provincial Information Minister Shah Farman said, “whenever there are prospects of peace talks either drone attacks take place or such acts of terrorism are engineered by elements averse to negotiations.” In other words, a ‘foreign hand’ was involved.

The Taliban in the past have been attacking and burning CD shops. A few years ago, they had bombed a cinema in the city, leaving nine people dead. Considering the behaviour pattern there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who is responsible for the latest bloodletting. Notably, the police are reported to have claimed that they had already warned cinema owners of possible attacks, telling them to improve security arrangements. And that they made the same information available to the government. In pointing the finger at foreign hand the provincial authorities seem to be trying to cover up their own laxity in dealing with the threat. It is not right to shift the entire blame for lack of proper security to cinema owners and responsibility to “elements averse to negotiations.” Cinema managements are at fault for not putting in place proper security measures. It seems that there was no metal detector door or physical checking of people’s personal belongings at the entrance. These are standard measures in most other big cities. The government also needed to ensure compliance. Such checks could have prevented the terrorist (according to the police, the grenades were hurled by a single person from the theatre’s rear rows) from bringing in the grenades and cause so much harm.

As for the other issue, when the police say they had advance information about the threat, it is reasonable to expect they had information about the perpetrators’ identity too. The present investigations may take a while to be completed. Once the job is done, the identity of those behind this act of terrorism must be made public. The people need to know who the perpetrators are, and how they want to reorder this society according to their narrow bigoted worldview. That is all the more important considering that despite so much bloodshed at the hands of violent religious extremists, there still are Taliban apologists in the mainstream of our national life who argue that Muslims cannot shed Muslim blood.

Business Recorder

PESHAWAR: Two explosions inside a cinema here on Sunday night left four people killed and 31 injured.

According to police officials, two hand grenades were lobbed inside the hall of Picture House, one of the oldest cinemas in Peshawar situated on the Cinema Road near Qissa Khwani Bazaar, during the screening of a Pashto film.

“Initial investigation suggests that the grenades were hurled by a person from the rear seats in the theatre,” SSP Najeebur Rehman said.

He said police had already warned cinema owners against threats and asked them to improve their security arrangements. He said police were investigating the security lapse and how the man had managed to take the grenades into the hall.

Bomb disposal squad personnel found two pins of the grenades. Rescue workers of Edhi and Al Khidmat Foundation were seen shifting the dead and the injured to the Lady Reading Hospital.

“About 100 people were in the hall at the time of the explosions,” SP Faisal Mukhtar said, adding that the China-made grenades were small in size and easy to conceal even in the turban. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Shaukat Yousafzai told journalists that five people had been killed and 31 others injured. The condition of four of the injured was critical.

Witnesses said the blasts were quite powerful. They said they had seen a large number of people crying for help. The panic-stricken people were seen rushing out of the hall with pools of blood and shoes and sandals lying all around.

It was the day’s third show of Pashto film “Zidi Pakhtun” (stubborn Pakhtun). The show was about to end when the grenades exploded.

Several blasts have taken place in the congested market area in the past.

In September last year, a car bomb blast killed about 43 people. In May 2009, a bomb ripped through a cinema, Tasveer Mahal, leaving nine people dead.

Provincial Information Minister Shah Farman said a third force might be involved in the grenade blasts to sabotage peace talks between the government and the Taliban. “Whenever there are prospects of peace talks either drone attacks take place or such acts of terrorism are engineered by the elements averse to negotiations,” he said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the blast till late night. According to some TV channels, Taliban had stated that they had nothing to do with the grenade attack.

DAWN