- Injured attacker confesses to training at camps in Afghanistan
- Weapons smugglers, facilitators linked to attack taken into custody.
- Jamaat-ul-Ahrar trying to revive activities, says CTD official.
The mastermind behind the June 27 attack on a Rangers camp in Karachi, along with smugglers who supplied weapons to the terrorists, has been arrested, Counter Terrorism Department SSP Irfan Bahadur said on Tuesday.
Addressing a joint press conference at the Central Police Office in Karachi alongside Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon, and senior Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials, the police officer said that
Three Pakistan Rangers personnel were martyred and four others injured in the attack on the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) camp in Karachi on June 27, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). Three attackers were killed, and one was arrested in an injured condition.
SSP Bahadur said the attack had been planned in Afghanistan, from where instructions were issued. He added that the weapons and explosives used in the assault had also been supplied from Afghanistan.
According to the CTD official, Muhammad Bashir was the mastermind behind the attack and was taken into custody after the incident. He said Bashir had coordinated all logistical arrangements with the help of 13 facilitators.
SSP Bahadur said the four-member terrorist group — identified as Janan, Hadi, Umar, and Usman — entered Karachi from Afghanistan. They were transported from Hub Chowki to Korangi, where they were housed before carrying out the attack.
He said Janan was the suicide bomber who detonated explosives at the entrance of the Rangers camp, allowing the remaining three terrorists to enter the premises.
The SSP said the injured terrorist, Usman, confessed during interrogation that the attackers had received training at different camps in Afghanistan.
He added that investigators had recovered videos showing preparations for the attack and recorded statements from the Indian proxy group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar’s training camp.
Lanjar said that four terrorists carried out the assault, including three Afghan nationals and one resident of Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said that the attackers’ handlers directed the operation from Afghan territory, while Rangers killed three terrorists during a successful operation and arrested a fourth attacker in an injured condition.
IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon said the objective of the attack was to sabotage peace in Karachi, adding that logistical support and weapons had originated from Afghanistan. He said the matter was being examined by law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Additional CTD IG Zulfiqar Larak said that the incident marked Jamaat-ul-Ahrar’s first major activity in a long time, adding that the group was attempting to reassert its presence.
