4 TTP militants arrested in Islamabad suicide attack case, says Pakistan govt

< warm> capital of west pakistan: Pakistan on fri said that security agencies have arrested four militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for their involvement in a suicide attack outside a court in Islamabad.

Twelve people were killed and 36 others injured on Tuesday when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the entrance of the Islamabad District Judicial Complex in the G-11 area of the capital.

In a statement on social media, the government said that four TTP militants were arrested in a joint operation conducted by the Intelligence Bureau Division and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).

A day earlier, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that the suicide bomber involved in the Islamabad bombing was an Afghan national. Naqvi said that authorities have identified the attackers as well as those involved in the blast.

During interrogation, the handler of the suicide bomber, identified as Sajidullah alias Sheena, confessed that TTP commander Saeed-ur-Rehman alias Daadullah contacted him through the Telegram app to carry out a suicide attack in Islamabad to cause maximum casualties of law enforcement agencies, according to the statement.

Daadullah, a resident of Charmang in Bajaur district, is currently living in Afghanistan and serving as TTP's Intelligence Chief for Nawagai, Bajaur, it said.

Daadullah sent pictures of the suicide bomber, identified as Usman alias Qari, to Sheena.

"Usman belonged to the Shinwari tribe and was a resident of Achin, Nangarhar, Afghanistan. When he reached Pakistan from Afghanistan, Sajidullah alias Sheena arranged his stay in a residence near Islamabad,” the statement said.

On Daadullah’s instructions, Sheena collected a suicide jacket from Akhun Baba graveyard in Peshawar and delivered it to Islamabad. On the day of the blast at the Judicial Complex, he fitted the suicide jacket on Usman, it added.

“The network was handled and guided at every step by the TTP high command based in Afghanistan. The entire cell involved in the incident, including its commander and three other members, has been arrested. Investigations are continuing, and more revelations and arrests are expected,” the statement added.

The Islamabad attack came days after the third round of talks between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban failed to reach any agreement to tackle the issue of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan's Taliban rulers of harbouring the TTP, a militant group responsible for a surge in attacks inside Pakistan since 2021. Kabul denies the charge, saying it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.

Although separate from Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, the TTP is closely allied with it and has been emboldened since the Taliban's 2021 takeover of Kabul.

Last week, the Foreign Office said that Pakistan expected that the Taliban regime would be able to control cross-border attacks and take concrete actions against the TTP elements present on Afghan soil.

The TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan.

Pakistan had hoped that the Afghan Taliban would stop the use of their soil against it by expelling the TTP operatives, but they have apparently refused to do so after coming to power.

The TTP has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

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