KARACHI: A key suspect involved in the bloody suicide attack targeting the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan earlier this year was arrested at during a joint operation conducted by the paramilitary forces and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Manghopir, a private TV channel reported on Friday.
At a joint CTD-Rangers press conference, CTD Deputy Inspector General Amir Farooqi announced that a cache of weapons and explosive material was recovered from the possession of the attacker, identified as Nadir Ali. The deadly attack on the shrine, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, had resulted in the deaths of at least 88 people and left at least 150 others wounded.
Following the bloodbath, the army had launched Raddul Fasaad security operation, saying it was aimed at eliminating the residual/latent threat of terrorism. DIG Farooqi said that the foothold of the militant group had been weakened in Pakistan after several operations targeting its operatives. After the Mastung security operation, one by one militants were being captured, he said.
“Today, the key suspect in the shrine attack has been arrested. They have become very weak here,” DIG Farooqi said, adding that their people have escaped and the group’s presence was found across the border in Afghanistan. “They were not operating here. The group’s elements used to be associated with various parties, primarily the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,” he claimed.
To a question, he also said that foreign elements were definitely involved in incidents of terrorism ─ they fund, train and assign targets to these groups. However, he said that the army’s operations had limited the group. “They have been eliminated now,” he said.