[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) stated on Friday that the mastermind behind the police lines mosque suicide bomb attack had been identified and that it was carried out by a faction of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Assistant IG CTD Shaukat Abbas and DIG CTD Sohail Khalid revealed that the attack was organised in Afghanistan and that a second suicide bomber was prepared in case the first failed.
Earlier in February, the TTP claimed responsibility for the country’s biggest terror attack in years, which killed at least 84 people.
A joint investigative team (JIT) investigating the event had concentrated on determining how the bomber overcame security in Peshawar’s ‘Red Zone,’ which houses the offices of eight law-enforcement institutions, including the police.
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On the condition of anonymity, a senior provincial police source told AFP that at least 23 suspects had been apprehended, adding that some of them were from Peshawar and the surrounding former Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), which has now been combined with the K-P province.
AIG Abbas stated at a press conference on Friday that the suicide bomber was identified with the help of 300 cameras, which aided in finding his handler and the major mastermind behind the incident.
The handler was identified as Ghaffar alias Suleman, and the suicide bomber was Qari of the Mohmand Agency.
It was also disclosed during the press briefing that the two had been in contact previous to the attack and that both Qari and the backup attacker had gotten their training in Kunduz, a city in northern Afghanistan.
CTD officers swore to apprehend and prosecute all culprits.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
