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 during interrogation.
The investigation arose from an attack on a Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) camp in Karachi on June 27, when armed terrorists attempted to storm the facility after detonating explosives at its main gate. According to the army’s media wing, Ranger personnel repelled the assault, killing three of the attackers and capturing a wounded fourth.
The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said three Rangers personnel were killed and four others injured during the exchange of fire. He identified the attackers as members of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and said that one of the captured terrorists was an Afghan national.
Addressing a joint press conference alongside Sindh Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho and Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Irfan Bahadur said the operation had four stages: planning in Afghanistan, transferring the terrorists to Pakistan, arranging local logistical support and supplying weapons and suicide vests before leading the attack from 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 returning to Karachi. He said Rangers later arrested Bashir, who confessed 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 the weapons were supplied through a network involving Saeed Shah, Ahsanullah, Liaqat and others, while another six-member group, 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 investigators had recovered videos from Qari Bashir’s mobile phone that allegedly showed preparations for the attack, including terrorists leaving for the operation. He also alleged that Bashir had rented accommodation for the attackers and filmed them before leaving.
Lanjar said four terrorists attacked a Karachi Rangers 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 those responsible for the attackers were based in Afghanistan and directed the operation from there.
Lanjar said the attack was foiled by an operation by the Sindh Rangers 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 foil Karachi camp attack, 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 terrorist 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 that so far this year there have been seven terrorist incidents in Sindh, 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 everyone directly involved in the Karachi attack had been detained or killed and investigators were now working to dismantle associated networks.
