The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has arrested the mastermind and facilitator of the suicide bomber of Peshawar Police Lines.
Addressing a press conference Friday, the Additional Inspector General (AIG) CTD, Shaukat Abbas said that planning for attack on Police Lines was made in Afghanistan, which was carried out by the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Jamaat-ul-Ahrar Group.
He said that the masterminds and handlers of the Police Lines suicide bombing attack have been traced while an accomplice of the suicide bomber, Imtiaz Khan has also been arrested.
Both the suicide bomber and his accomplice Imtiaz have got training in a centre of Afghanistan.
The AIG CTD said that the mastermind of the suicide attack has been identified as Ghafaar alias Salman, who was in contact with the suicide bomber on the day of the attack. The organizational name of the suicide bomber was Qari and the name of his facilitator was also known, but it could not be revealed at this stage.
On Jan 30, a powerful explosion ripped through a mosque in Peshawar’s Red Zone area where between 300 and 400 people — mostly police officers — had gathered for prayers. The suicide blast blew away the wall of the prayer hall and an inner roof and claimed 84 lives.
The outlawed TTP had initially claimed responsibility for the attack. However, it later distanced itself from it but sources earlier indicated that it might have been the handiwork of some local faction of the outlawed group.
He said that the suspect detained by law enforcement officials was a “backup suicide bomber” who would have been used as a secondary option during the attack in case the first bomber failed to detonate his vest.
The senior official declined to identify the place from where the suspect was arrested. However, he reiterated that the alleged bomber got training in the Kunduz area of Afghanistan.
Furthermore, he mentioned that law enforcement had identified a “mastermind” and a “handler” associated with the bombers, and they were currently making efforts to apprehend them.
The mastermind was identified as Ghaffar alias Salman. “We have found that Ghaffar was in contact with the suicide bomber on the day of the incident. We are trying to apprehend the handler and mastermind of the attack.”