Key Points
- Terrorists trained at two camps before entering Pakistan.
- The four-stage terrorist operation included infiltration, facilitation and weapons supply.
- Police identify 13 facilitators and a six-member weapons-smuggling network.
- The captured terrorist confessed to recruitment and training in Afghanistan.
KARACHI: Pakistan Police on Tuesday arrested the “mastermind” behind the June 27 terrorist attack on a Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) camp in Karachi, saying the assault was planned in Afghanistan, where the attackers were recruited, trained and dispatched to Pakistan.
The announcement was made at a joint press conference by Sindh Home Minister Zia ul Hassan Lanjar, Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Irfan Bahadur.
Bahadur identified the mastermind as Qari Bashir, saying he had travelled to Afghanistan after being summoned from Pakistan by the terrorist network to coordinate the operation.
“Qari Bashir was called to Afghanistan and assigned responsibility for the attack. He has since been arrested by Rangers and has confessed to planning the operation,” Bahadur said.
“Qari Bashir was called to Afghanistan and assigned responsibility for the attack. He has since been arrested by Rangers and has confessed to planning the operation.” – Irfan Bahadur, CTD official
From plan to attack
According to the CTD officer, investigators found that the attack was carried out in four stages: planning in Afghanistan, infiltrating the attackers into Pakistan, activating a local support network and supplying weapons and suicide vests.
Police said that mobile phone data recovered from Bashir included videos documenting preparations for the attack. One of the clips showed him seeing off the attackers shortly before they launched the assault.
Bahadur said the four-member assault team included Janan, whom he identified as an Afghan national and suicide bomber; another attacker from Bajaur; Umar Farooq, a resident of Afghanistan’s Kunar province; and Usman, who survived after being wounded and was taken into custody.
Investigators said the attackers underwent training at two camps in Afghanistan before entering Pakistan through Balochistan. They later travelled via Hub to Karachi, where Bashir rented a house for them near Chamra Chowrangi and personally conducted reconnaissance of the Rangers facility.
Bahadur further said that banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Saeed Shah directed Ahsanullah to arrange the weapons. The arms were collected from another terrorist, Liaqat, and delivered to Bashir in Karachi.
“There are safe havens for terrorists in Afghanistan where they receive training before being sent to carry out attacks in Karachi and elsewhere in Pakistan.” – Irfan Bahadur, CTD official
He said the attackers first received Kalashnikov rifles, followed later by hand grenades. Investigators have identified a six-member weapons-smuggling network, including Rahim Afridi, as well as 13 people accused of facilitating the attack.
Inside the attack
Providing details of the assault, Bahadur said Janan detonated his suicide vest at the camp’s main entrance, creating an opening for the remaining attackers to enter the compound. Rangers personnel responded immediately, killing three attackers and capturing the fourth alive. Security forces also recovered assault rifles, grenades and ammunition from the scene.
“There are safe havens for terrorists in Afghanistan where they receive training before being sent to carry out attacks in Karachi and elsewhere in Pakistan,” Bahadur remarked.
Home Minister Lanjar said the attackers intended to seize hostages and inflict heavy casualties. He added that three members of the assault team were Afghan nationals, while the fourth was from Bajaur but had lived in Afghanistan for nearly two decades.
Lanjar further disclosed that the group’s handlers were operating from Afghanistan and remotely supervised the attack. He said law enforcement agencies had since dismantled the network of facilitators linked to the operation.
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Officials also played a video recording of Usman’s confession during the briefing. According to investigators, Usman told authorities he had been recruited from a religious seminary in Afghanistan and trained at two terrorist camps before being sent to Pakistan.
Responding to questions, IG Sindh Javed Alam Odho said Sindh had recorded seven terrorist incidents so far this year, down from 37 during the same period last year.
He added that around 75 terrorists had been arrested during the year, while several others were killed in counterterrorism operations.
Additional IG CTD Zulfiqar Lark said everyone directly involved in the Rangers camp attack had either been arrested or killed, adding that investigators were now pursuing the wider network connected to the assault.
Attack and aftermath
The investigation relates to the June 27 attack on a Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) camp in Karachi, when armed assailants attempted to storm the facility after detonating explosives at its main gate.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Rangers personnel repelled the attack, killing three terrorists and capturing a fourth in an injured condition. Three Rangers personnel were martyred and four others sustained injuries during the exchange of fire. The military said the attackers belonged to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and that one of those captured was an Afghan national.
