KARACHI:
Police on Tuesday said the “mastermind behind the attack on a Karachi Rangers camp, identified as Qari Bashir,” had been arrested and had confessed to his role in the attack during interrogation.
The investigation stemmed 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 military’s media wing, Rangers personnel repelled the assault, 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 wounded during the exchange of fire. It identified the attackers as members of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and said one of the captured terrorists was an Afghan national.
Speaking at a joint press conference alongside Sindh Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho and Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Irfan Bahadur said the operation had four stages: planning in Afghanistan, moving the terrorists into Pakistan, arranging local logistical support, and supplying weapons and suicide vests before directing 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 later returning to Karachi. He said 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 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 travelled by car to Karachi and were housed in rented accommodation.
The CTD official said investigators had recovered videos from Qari Bashir’s mobile phone allegedly showing preparations for the attack, including the terrorists leaving for the operation. He also alleged that Bashir had rented accommodation for the attackers and filmed them before they departed.
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 around 20 years. According to the minister, all of the attackers’ handlers were based in Afghanistan and directed the operation from there.
Lanjar said the attack was foiled by a Sindh Rangers operation in which three terrorists were killed, and one was arrested after being wounded. He added that investigators had since dismantled the network of alleged facilitators involved in the attack.
Read More: Rangers foil 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 at two terrorist camps before being sent to Pakistan. A recording of his alleged confession was also played during the briefing.
Responding to questions from journalists, IG Sindh said there had been seven terrorist incidents in Sindh so far this year, compared with 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.
