ISLAMABAD: The mastermind and some of the operatives who took part in the Safoora Goth carnage in Karachi have been arrested, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced on Wednesday.
Over 40 people of the Shia Ismaili community were killed when terrorists attacked a bus in the Safoora Goth area last week, sending shockwaves across the country.
“Security agencies now have complete information on where the plan was masterminded and who had pulled the trigger,” he told reporters in Islamabad. He said the mastermind was on a list of most-wanted persons and his arrest was a remarkable achievement.
The interior minister’s remarks followed reports that the suspects arrested had also confessed to being involved in a number of high-profile cases of terrorism, such as the murder of civil society activist Sabeen Mahmud and the attack on American educationist Debra Lobo.
These details were also confirmed by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah at a press conference in Karachi on Wednesday.
Suspects confess to killing Sabeen Mahmud
The interior minister drew attention away from earlier claims that the Safoora Goth tragedy was engineered by Indian intelligence agency RAW. He said the self-styled Islamic State group and the Taliban were one and the same, acting together to harm Pakistan’s interests, adding that some groups acted in unison to carry out terrorist activities in a coordinated manner.
He praised security and intelligence agencies in general and the Sindh police in particular for what he called a remarkable achievement; tracking down the perpetrators within days of the incident.
It is interesting to note that while the interior minister tried to deflect the impression that there was a “foreign hand” behind the attack, the Sindh chief minister made overt references to the involvement of RAW.
“Why do you always talk about foreign hand, they are all anti-state forces,” Chaudhry Nisar said when asked about a possible RAW link.
Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2015
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