Four terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were arrested for their involvement in the suicide blast in Islamabad earlier this week, the government said on Friday.

“In a joint operation conducted by the Intelligence Bureau Division and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), four members of the TTP/Fitna al-Khawarij terrorist cell involved in the suicide attack at the Judicial Complex G-11, Islamabad have been apprehended,” the government said in a post on social media platform X.

Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the TTP.

The government said that during the investigation, the handler of the suicide bomber, identified as Sajidullah alias Sheena, confessed that TTP Commander Saeedur Rehman alias Daadullah contacted him through the Telegram app to carry out a suicide attack in Islamabad to cause maximum casualties of law enforcement agencies.

The government said that the TTP commander sent pictures of the suicide bomber, identified as Usman alias Qari, for Sheena to recieve him. It further said that on the directives of the TTP commander, Sheena collected a suicide jacket from a graveyard in Peshawar and brought it to Islamabad.

On the day of the blast, the handler “set the suicide jacket” on the suicide bomber, the government added.

“The network was handled and guided at every step by the Fitna al-Khawarij/TTP high command based in Afghanistan. The entire cell involved in the incident, including its commander and three other members, has been arrested,” the government said.

“Investigations are continuing, and more revelations and arrests are expected,” it added.

At least 12 people were killed and 36 were injured as a bomb blast ripped through the district and sessions court building in Islamabad’s G-11 area on Tuesday. The blast occurred as international events were being hosted in the capital, including the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference and the sixth Margalla Dialogue.

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry had said earlier that the bomber was “not a Pakistani national”, while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that the blast was “related to Afghanistan”.

The incident in Islamabad had come the same week as an attack on the Cadet College in Wana that was successfully thwarted.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had accused Afghanistan and India of being involved in recent terrorist activity, vowing a “befitting response” to the nation’s enemies.