https://arab.news/mum8h
- Security official says the assault was planned and directed from Afghanistan, involved US-made weapons
- He says senior TTP leaders approved the attack, while the group used a front outfit to claim responsibility
ISLAMABAD: Afghan citizens were involved in two suicide bombings that took place in Pakistan this week, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed on Thursday, saying the government would decide how to respond to the attacks.
Naqvi was referring to a suicide bomb blast that took place in Pakistan’s capital on Tuesday, killing 12 and injuring 36. No group claimed responsibility for the attack while the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied it was involved.
The second attack took place on Monday targeting a cadet college in the northwestern Wana town. Militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the main gate before gunmen entered the premises. A firefight between the militants and security forces lasted for hours, during which all the attackers were killed and cadets, staff and civilians inside the building were safely rescued.
“Afghan citizens had conducted these suicide attacks,” Naqvi told reporters in Islamabad. “We have received confirmation of both. Both these people came from Afghanistan and they did it. We are taking this up.”
When asked how Islamabad would respond to the attacks, Naqvi said:
“What we will do will be decided at the government level.”
Earlier, a security official with direct knowledge of the attack on the Wana cadet college said the assault was planned and managed from Afghanistan.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said all assailants were also Afghan citizens.
“The attack was planned in Afghanistan by Kharji Zahid and the final approval was given by Kharji Noorwali Mehsud,” the official, privy to the investigations, said in a statement.
“All the Khwarij who attacked Cadet College Wana were Afghan citizens. The equipment for this attack was provided from Afghanistan, which included American-made weapons.”
Pakistani officials use the term “khwarij” to refer to the TTP, an umbrella network of armed factions. The term rooted in early Islamic history and used to describe an extremist sect that rebelled against legitimate authority and declared other Muslims to be apostates.
The official also named top TTP figures, including Mehsud, the network’s chief, as directing the operation.
He said a group called “Jaish-ul-Hind” claimed responsibility on the orders of the TTP leadership as a diversionary tactic.
Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban administration of harboring TTP militants and facilitating their cross-border attacks, an allegation Kabul denies.
The official added that Afghan leaders had pressured TTP commanders not to publicly accept responsibility for the assault.
“The attack on Cadet College Wana was aimed at increasing security concerns in Pakistan, on demand of the Indian agency RAW,” he said.
“The identities of the Afghan terrorists killed in the attack firmly establishes the links of terrorists in their bases in Afghanistan.”
Apart from Afghanistan, Pakistan has consistently accused India of backing anti-Pakistan militant groups, though New Delhi denies the claim.