KARACHI – The five men arrested in connection with the recent bombing at the University of Karachi (KU) have admitted having links to several religious groups that funded their militant operations in the city against the people of the Shia sect.
Disclosing the facts revealed in several interrogations with the detainees, police sources said that the accused men had planned operations against people belonging to different organisations, including a student body representing the interests of Shia students.
One of the suspects, Hafeezullah, revealed that his accomplices and he had links to the Punjabi Taliban who arguably hold immense influence in the country’s Saraiki belt. “We had planned to hit several members of political organisations and personnel of the law enforcement agencies,” Hafeezullah disclosed.
The suspects received training at Angoor Ada in South Waziristan under the command of various Taliban leaders; are capable of making bombs; and are familiar with using rockets, light machine guns, mortars, and other weapons and explosives. Another suspect, Muhammad Umer, said that he had planned attacks on the activists of the Imamia Students Organisation (ISO) at KU, and provided bombs and other materials to his accomplices.
Umer also assigned other members of his group to carry out various responsibilities such as monitoring the site and the ISO activists. All the schemes were contrived during meetings at a local hotel and at KU. “The bomb was planted near the main cafeteria of KU and triggered by a mobile phone,” the report said. Nine KU students were injured when the bomb went off at the site where the unwary victims were gathering to offer Zuhr prayers.
Investigations have revealed that terrorists are trying to eliminate upcoming politicians, which is why they have been targeting students. Hafeezullah told the police that the Punjabi Taliban had provided him and his men with training in war manoeuvres, especially in building bombs.
