Suicide attack at Islamabad district court planned by TTP’s Noor Wali Mehsud, says info minister

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday said banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) chief Noor Wali Mehsud planned the November 11 suicide blast outside Islamabad’s Judicial Complex.

The attack killed 12 people and injured 35 others, with the government saying days later that it had arrested four terrorists belonging to the TTP.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Tarar detailed the communication between these four facilitators with TTP commanders in Afghanistan. Displaying their pictures, Tarar identified them as Sajidullah alias Sheena, Kamran Khan, Muhammad Zali and Shah Munir.

The minister said Mehsud “planned this attack through his commander Daadullah”, whom Sajidullah met in 2023.

He also played a video statement of Sajidullah, who he said was the suicide bomber’s handler, as he arranged the jacket and brought him to the site of the attack.

The minister identified Sajidullah as a resident of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur, noting that he joined the TTP in 2015 and was currently in Afghanistan.

More to follow