ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces busted a network of suicide bombers in the northwest, said an official statement on Saturday, adding they also recovered mobile SIMS from Afghanistan along with a substantial quantity of drugs and currency.
The country has witnessed a spike in militant violence in recent months since a proscribed network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), unilaterally called off a ceasefire with the government in November.
The TTP leadership is said to be based in Afghanistan and its fighters have launched several attacks in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan along with other places.
According to the statement, the network of bombers was caught after an attack on a check post in Jamrud on January 19 in which three police officials were killed. They were shot by an armed man who blew himself up before the incident was claimed by the TTP leadership.
“Security forces collected bullet casings and body parts for forensics,” the statement continued. “They also performed geofencing and analyzed CCTV footage [of the attack].”
Later, it was found that a TTP member named Umar was behind the attack.
He was facilitated by a local resident of Jamrud, Satana Jan, who was killed in an operation launched by the security forces. Two relatives of the suicide bomber, Farman Ullah and Abdul Qayyum, were also arrested in an intelligence-based operation on January 23.
Another operation on January 27 led to the arrest of more facilitators, including Fazal Amin, Fazal Ahmed, Mohammad Amir and Hamad Ullah.
Ahmed revealed during the course of investigation that the suicide bomber was an Afghan national. It was also discovered that Jan was running the TTP in North Waziristan tribal district and had four hideouts.
Jan also provided weapons and explosives-laden jackets to suicide bombers who were sent from the neighboring country by his handlers.
Pakistan has raised the issue of rising militancy with the Taliban administration in the past, asking the Afghan authorities not to let armed groups use their territory to launch attacks against other states.