The attacker remained in Afghanistan for approximately five months before returning to Pakistan.
Security personnel stand guard in front of a mosque after an explosion, in Islamabad, on February 6, 2026. Photo: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
As investigators piece together the trail behind the deadly suicide bomb attack in Islamabad’s Imambargah Khadijah al-Kubra, authorities have identified the attacker as a Peshawar resident who received training in Afghanistan, shedding new light on the cross-border origins of terrorism in the country.
According to preliminary information shared by sources close to the investigation, the attacker, identified as Yasir Khan Yasir, remained in Afghanistan for approximately five months before returning to Pakistan.
Investigators are also examining possible links between the attacker and the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), although they caution that investigations are continuing at this stage.
Yasir Khan, who leaned towards the Salafist school of thought, is believed to have received militant training during his stay in Afghanistan. “He received training at the Mansoor Istashhadi training center in Kunar province, northeastern Afghanistan, and traveled to and from the country several times,” sources told The Express PAkGazette.
Authorities said efforts were underway to uncover the entire network behind the attack, including identifying facilitators, handlers and any domestic or cross-border connections that may have enabled the operation.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Talal Chaudhry also confirmed that the attacker had been identified. “He is not an Afghan citizen, but forensic examination of the remaining parts of his body has provided information on how many times he had traveled to Afghanistan,” he added.
State broadcaster PTV News, in a post on social media platform
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif echoed those claims, blaming what he described as an “India-Afghanistan nexus” for the Imambargah massacre. In a post on X, he said it had been established that the attacker had traveled to and from Afghanistan and that evidence of links between India and the Taliban was emerging.
He called the perpetrators “enemies of both religion and nation” and vowed that the state would respond to the attack with all its force.
Referring to the May 2025 military confrontation between Pakistan and India, he wrote that after a humiliating defeat, India was now fighting through proxies and no longer had the courage to engage in direct war.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Talal Chaudhry said the attacker had been identified. “He is not an Afghan citizen, but forensic examination of the remaining parts of his body has provided information on how many times he had traveled to Afghanistan,” he said.
Referring to the broader pattern of terrorism across the country, Chaudhry said: “There is a consistent pattern to these attacks: on the one hand, terrorism is carried out by individuals in the name of religion, while on the other, groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) engage in violence based on ethnicity and parochialism.”
Talal Chaudhry described as “cowards” the perpetrators of recent terrorist attacks who deliberately target weak spots such as markets, schools, mosques, imambargahs, banks and other facilities meant for ordinary citizens.
He also reaffirmed that the implementation of the National Action Plan continued without compromises. “This is a war we are determined to win, and we are winning. That’s why they focus on easy targets instead of hard targets,” he said.
