KHYBER: An Ali Masjid blast facilitator was killed on Friday during an encounter between suspected militants and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) near Jamrud.

A CTD official in Jamrud, who wished to remain anonymous, told Dawn that Abuzar Afridi, who was already in custody, had confessed to have concealed arms and ammunition at a location.

He was being taken to the location by a CTD team which was attacked by suspected armed militants in Sarkai locality near Sur Kamar in Jamrud.

The official said that during the cross firing, Afridi was killed while a CTD personnel received a bullet on his bulletproof jacket but remained unhurt.

The CTD official further said that one of the suspect militants was also injured during the shoot out, but he managed to escape.

Local police and CTD personnel later initiated a search operation to nab the injured militant.

They said that the body of Afridi, who was a resident of Sultan Khel area of Landi Kotal, was later shifted to Jamrud hospital.

Officials sources said that Afridi was arrested minutes after a deadly blast inside a newly built mosque in Ali Masjid on July 25. A police official, Adnan Afridi, was martyred in the blast.

While in the custody of CTD, Afridi had confessed that he had arranged a rented vehicle for a suicide bomber who was assigned the ‘task’ of targeting a military vehicle near the Ali Masjid.

The attacker missed his target as he mistimed the passage of the vehicle through the main road near the mosque.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2023