KARACHI:
Police said on Tuesday that “the mastermind behind the attack on a Karachi Rangers camp, identified as Qari Bashir,” had been arrested and had confessed his role in the attack under interrogation.
The investigation stemmed from an attack on a Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) camp in Karachi on June 27, when armed terrorists tried to storm the facility after detonating explosives at its main gate. According to the military’s media wing, Rangers personnel repulsed the attack, killing three of the attackers and capturing a fourth in an injured condition.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said three Rangers personnel were killed and four others injured during the exchange of fire. It identified the attackers as members of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and said that one of the captured terrorists was an Afghan national.
Speaking at a joint press conference together with Sindh Inspector General Javed Alam Odho and Interior Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Irfan Bahadur said the operation had four phases: planning in Afghanistan, moving the terrorists to Pakistan, arranging local western attacks and direct supply of logistics attacks from we attack. Afghanistan.
“One of the attackers, identified as Janan, was an Afghan national and a suicide bomber, while another was from Bajaur. A third suspect, Umar Farooq, was from Afghanistan’s Kunar province and the fourth attacker, identified as Usman, was captured alive after being injured during the operation,” he said.
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According to Bahadur, Qari Bashir had been called from Pakistan to Afghanistan to coordinate the operation before later returning to Karachi. He said the Rangers subsequently arrested Bashir, who confessed to his role during interrogation.
Video footage of Bashir’s alleged confession was played during the press conference.
Bahadur said investigators believed 13 people were involved in the operation. He said arms were supplied through a network involving Saeed Shah, Ahsanullah, Liaqat and others, while another group of six members, including Rahim Afridi, was accused of facilitating arms smuggling.
He added that the terrorists entered Pakistan through Balochistan before reaching Hub from where they traveled by car to Karachi and were accommodated in rented accommodation.
The CTD official said the investigators had recovered videos from Qari Bashir’s mobile phone allegedly showing the preparations for the attack, including the terrorists heading for the operation. He also alleged that Bashir had rented accommodation to the attackers and filmed them before they left.
Lanjar said four terrorists attacked a Rangers Karachi transport company on June 27 with the intention of taking hostages and causing mass casualties.
He said three of the attackers were Afghan nationals, while the fourth was from Bajaur and had lived in Afghanistan for about 20 years. According to the minister, all the attackers’ handlers were based in Afghanistan and directed the operation from there.
Lanjar said the attack was thwarted by a Sindh Rangers operation in which three terrorists were killed and one was arrested after being injured. He added that investigators had since dismantled the network of alleged facilitators involved in the attack.
Read more: Rangers prevent attack on Karachi camp, three soldiers martyred: ISPR
He said the captured suspect, Usman, told investigators he had been recruited from a religious seminary in Afghanistan and trained in two terror camps before being sent to Pakistan. A recording of his alleged confession was also played during the briefing.
Responding to questions from reporters, IG Sindh said there had been seven terror incidents in Sindh so far this year, compared to 37 during the same period last year. He said around 75 suspected terrorists had been arrested while others had been killed in security operations.
Additional IG CTD Zulfiqar Lark said all those directly involved in the Karachi attack had been apprehended or killed and that investigators were now working to dismantle associated networks.
