QUETTA/KARACHI: The man who carried out the last week’s suicide attack on an election rally in Mastung has been identified, according to the Balochistan police.

A Sindh police official told Dawn in Karachi that a handler and a facilitator of the suicide bomber had also been identified and information about them had been shared with Baloch­istan police’s officials.

At least 149 people, inclu­ding Balochistan Awami Par­ty’s candidate Siraj Raisani, were killed in the attack.

Deputy Inspector Gene­ral Aitzaz Ahmed Goraya of the Balochistan police’s counterterrorism department told a press conference on Thursday that the suicide bomber had been identified as Hafeez Nawaz, son of Muhammad Nawaz.

He said security personnel found the hand of a person at the site of the attack in Mastung. Fingerprints of the hand were sent to Karachi for identification of the person, he added.

He said the Sindh police’s Counter-Terrorism Depart­ment (CTD) with the help of fingerprints had identified the suicide bomber.

DIG Goraya said that Hafeez originally belonged to Abbottabad but he had been living in a village of Thatta district of Sindh for many years.

The Sindh police’s CTD played an important role in identifying the suicide bomber. SSP (intelligence) retired Capt Parvez Ahmed Chandio of the Sindh police’s CTD told Dawn that officials of his department had also identified two facilitators of the suicide bomber and shared information about them with the Balochistan police.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2018