'Facilitators' of Peshawar imambargah attack confess in court

Published May 22, 2015
According to the CTD, Riazullah and Amanullah had provided weapons, vehicles and logistical support for the suicide attack that killed 25. —AFP/File
According to the CTD, Riazullah and Amanullah had provided weapons, vehicles and logistical support for the suicide attack that killed 25. —AFP/File

PESHAWAR: Two suspected militants on Friday confessed to facilitating a suicide attack on Peshawar's Imamia Imambargah in which at least 25 people were killed and 59 others were injured.

Read: 21 killed as Taliban storm Peshawar imambargah

The attack had taken place on Feb 13, following which the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested six people during a raid in Khyber Agency. Out of the six, two men named Riazullah and Amanullah were suspected of involvement in the attack.

According to the CTD, the two suspected militants were presented in a local court where they confessed to facilitating the suicide attack. The CTD added that the suspects' confessional statement had been recorded as well.

CTD officials said the two had provided logistical support for the attack and had arranged for weapons and vehicles that were used in the incident in Peshawar's Hayatabad neighbourhood.

They further said that the two militants divulged information on their associates and that authorities were making efforts to locate them.

At least 25 people were killed and 59 others were injured in the gun and bomb attack on the imambargah in Hayatabad when suicide attackers and gunmen — dressed in police uniforms — attacked worshippers offering Friday prayers.

Banned militant organisation Jundullah, a splinter group of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), had claimed responsibility for the attack through an email statement later that evening, saying it was revenge for a militant known as Doctor Usman — who was hanged in December last year.

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