ISLAMABAD: Security sources have reported significant progress in the investigation of the suicide blast outside Islamabad mosque that left 32 people martyred on Friday.
Intelligence and law enforcement agencies conducted raids and arrests in Peshawar and Nowshera.
The operations were carried out based on technical and human intelligence.
Four facilitators of the suicide attacker have been arrested, along with the Afghan mastermind of the attack.
According to security sources, the planning, training, and indoctrination for the attack were carried out in ISIS Afghanistan.
Under the patronage of the Afghan Taliban, ISIS and other terrorist organizations pose a major threat to regional and global peace.
During the operations, one person was martyred and three others were injured.
Security sources confirmed that further intelligence-based operations against terrorists are ongoing.
On Friday, City officials said the attacker attempted to enter the Imambargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra mosque in the Tarlai area but was stopped at the main gate, where the explosion occurred. The blast struck as worshippers gathered for Friday prayers, when mosques across the country are typically filled.
“According to the Islamabad administration, the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who was stopped at the mosque’s gate,” officials said, adding that at least 31 people were killed and 101 others injured.
State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudry said the attacker had been identified and claimed the blast was sponsored by “Indian- and Afghanistan-based terrorist groups.” He told reporters that the bomber had a travel history to Afghanistan prior to the attack.
“These terrorists operate in two shapes: those who grow beards and misuse religion, and others like the BLA who weaponize ethnicity. Both are funded in dollars, not ideology,” Chaudry said.
Rejecting any religious justification for the attack, Chaudhry added: “How can anyone use the name of religion to kill people standing before Allah? No Muslim can do this.”
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