PESHAWAR: A “fake” security alert triggered the evacuation of the Civil Secretariat and government offices in other parts of the provincial capital, prompting most employees to leave for their homes.

Employees hurriedly left their offices after learning about a possible threat to mosques located on the secretariat premises during Friday prayers.

Chief Minister Sohail Afridi dismissed the security threat as fake and said the scare was meant to spread panic.

The scare virtually emptied the Civil Secretariat as well as several government offices located on the former Fata Secretariat’s premises on Warsak Road, Shami Road and Khyber Road.

CM says scare aimed at spreading panic

“Officials of the finance department were the first to leave their offices after learning about the threat alert,” a senior government official told Dawn.

He said that the staff of the excise department, which stood next to the finance department, also followed suit.

A senior agriculture department official said on receiving the threat alert, he asked one of his staff members to check the adjacent home and tribal affairs department as it was responsible for taking care of security-related matters.

“When my subordinate reached the home department offices, he found them mostly deserted,” he said. The official said he immediately directed all staff members to leave offices.

Similarly, a livestock department official said that they received the threat report at around 12pm. Staff of the livestock, information, mines and mineral and health employees also left their offices in a hurry.

Similarly, an official of the planning and development department claimed that a senior planning officer went from door to door, asking staff members to move out due to the security alert.

After the mainstream and social media reported evacuation, Mr Afridi rushed to the Civil Secretariat and offered Friday prayers at one of its mosques.

However, the video of the visit released by the Chief Minister’s house showed only a few dozen worshippers inside the mosque, which is usually jam-packed during Friday prayers.

He told a presser that a fake threat alert was circulated to spread panic.

“The Civil Secretariat that runs the entire province was shut down through a fake alert,” he said.

The chief minister said that the secretariat stood inside the cantonment area, which was protected by the army personnel.

“If a terror activity takes place inside the Civil Secretariat, law-enforcement agencies will be responsible as they are paid to ensure its security,” he said.

Mr Afridi wondered if the law-enforcement agencies were only interested in abducting provincial ministers and eliminating the PTI.

He, however, said that those thinking PTI leadership and activists would be intimidated by such tactics were mistaken.

The chief minister said that he went to the secretariat and made officials open the doors of the mosque for which the fake threat was issued before offering Friday prayers there.

A police official told Dawn on condition of anonymity that there was a “general security threat” after the Kohat attack.

“We had killed a suicide bomber on Thursday in an intelligence-based operation on Warsak Road. This specific threat alert for the Civil Secretariat might have been discussed at a higher level to thwart any untoward incident,” he said.

Last Friday, an explosives-laden vehicle detonated near a mosque in Kohat district’s old Police Lines, followed by terrorists storming the compound and attacking police facilities, resulting in the killing of 23 people, including 15 police officials and injuring 100.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2026