PESHAWAR: On Friday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) announced that it had apprehended two suicide bombers who were purportedly plotting an attack against Aimal Wali Khan of the Awami National Party and Fazlur Rehman, the chief of the JUI-F.
The CTD declared in an official statement that the two militants with training from Afghanistan had “saved Peshawar from a major catastrophe.”
The individuals were apprehended during an intelligence-based operation in Peshawar, according to CTD Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) (Operations) Najamul Hasnain Liaquat. They contained a revolver, three hand grenades, two suicide vests, and other items, he claimed.
According to SSP Liaquat, the suspects were trained in the Paktia area of Afghanistan and belonged to the extremist Islamic State Khorasan. He said, “One was taken into custody from the Matni area of Peshawar, and the other was taken from the Achini area.”
“[The] arrested terrorists confessed to planning suicide attacks on Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Aimal Wali,” the officer claimed, adding that the two also scoped out Mufti Mahmood Markaz, the JUI-F’s provincial headquarters.
The inspector general of police and chief secretaries received letters from the interior ministry last month alerting them to the grave dangers to Fazl and Aimal’s life.
“It is requested that extreme caution and vigilance is exercised and necessary security arrangements are made at their [Fazl and Aimal’s] residences and during movement and public gatherings to avert any untoward incident,” it had said.
Maulana Asad Mahmood, the son of Fazl, was cautioned by Dera Ismail Khan police earlier this month about the possibility of a terrorist strike and was urged to limit his travel.
Terrorist activity in Pakistan has increased recently, particularly in KP and Balochistan, following the proscribed militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s termination of their ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
