By Jibran Ahmad
PESHAWAR (Reuters) – Pakistan has replaced the police head in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where a suicide bomber killed more than 100 people at a police mosque last month, heightening fears of Islamist attacks elsewhere around the nation.
An official government notice this week said Akhatar Hayat would be posted as police chief, replacing Moazzam Jah Ansari who was in the role for about 18 months. No reason was given.
Police are on the frontlines of rising attacks in Pakistan, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a restive northwestern province near the Afghan border.
The most active militant group in the area is the Pakistani Taliban, also called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Last month’s blast inside a fortified police compound in the regional capital Peshawar killed many police officers among the 100 fatalities in the city’s worst bombing in a decade.
That prompted unprecedented protests by police personnel.
Security threats have also been reported by embassies and authorities in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, which is a few hours’ drive from Peshawar.
The TTP has denied responsibility for the mosque attack, which no group has claimed so far.
(Reporting by Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
