ISLAMABAD, Nov 13 Investigators are quizzing two Afghan nationals studying in the Islamic International University Islamabad (IIUI) for their possible links with the twin suicide bombings that hit the university on October 20, leaving seven students and one employee dead, a senior official of the institution told Dawn on Friday.

“Yes, two of our Afghan students are currently with the law enforcement agencies who are interrogating them in connection with the suicide bombings in the university,” said the official, who requested not to be named due to security reasons.

When asked, he said, intelligence agencies had informed the university administration in this regard.

A couple of days ago Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the National Assembly that the government had arrested the mastermind behind the suicide attacks at the World Food Programme (WFP) offices and the Islamic International University. The minister did not disclose his identity.

Spying agencies are also working on a second lead; whether a former Afghan professor at IIU's Sharia and Law department has something to do with the tragic incident in which five female and two male students lost their lives.

The former professor was removed from his job few months ago after he developed serious differences with Dr Ziaul Haq, who is currently heading the Sharia and Law department.

The possibility that the two suicide bombers stayed in the boys' hostel of the university before striking the campus is also being looked into, both by the university administration and the intelligence officials.

Suicide attack on the IIU campus was first of its kind in which bombers hit an educational institution.

The attack led to a countrywide closure of educational institutions in the followings weeks. Still there are some private educational institutions in the country which are yet to resume their classes.

Terrorist strikes, mostly carried out the suicide attackers, have significantly increased after the government launched the military operation in South Waziristan in mid-October.