KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday indicted two men in a case pertaining to facilitating terrorists in the Karachi airport suicide attack case.

Saeed Ali, a trader, and Bilal, an officer at a private bank, have been arrested for allegedly facilitating and arranging funds through a private bank in Hub Chowki, Balochistan, to purchase a vehicle which was used in the deadly bombing targeting the Chinese nationals near the airport.

The judge of ATC-XII, who conducted the trial at the judicial complex inside the Central Prison Karachi, read out the charges against the accused persons.

However, neither has pleaded guilty and opted to contest the accusations.

Accused plead not guilty before ATC and opt to face charges

Therefore, the court has issued notices to the prosecution witnesses with a direction to appear before it on Jan 10 to record their testimonies.

The prosecution said that a suicide attack on a Chinese convoy was carried out near Karachi Airport in October 2024 that claimed the lives of two foreigners and one Pakistani national while 11 others sustained injuries.

It contended that during investigations, the alleged mastermind of the attack, Muhammad Javed alias Sameer, said to be associated with the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), had disclosed that the facilitation and financing of the attack were carried out by the BLA’s Majeed Brigade.

The prosecution also maintained that a vehicle was purchased for Rs7.1 million from a showroom while Saeed Ali and Bilal, a business development officer posted at the private bank, were facilitators as the account used for the payment was registered under the name of Saeed Ali Traders and the bank officer facilitated the transfer of payment.

The vehicle was registered through the excise and taxation department and was later fitted with explosive materials and used in the bombing, it added.

A separate case was lodged by the Counter Terrorism Department against these accused and others under Sections 11-F (membership, support and meetings relating to a proscribed organisation) 11-N (punishment for fund-raising and using money or other property for the purposes of terrorism) and 21-I (aid an abetment) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Accused Bilal had obtained bail from the Sindh High Court in April last year after the trial court had turned down his similar plea while after the ATC, the SHC had also dismissed the post-arrest bail application of co-accused Saeed Ali in August last year.

The main case about suicide bombing was also lodged at the CTD police station and alleged mastermind of the attack Javaid and his female aide, Gul Nisa, were facing the main proceedings before an anti-terrorism court.

The BLA commander Bashir Ahmed alias Bashir Zeb and Abdul Rehman alias Rehman Gul have also been declared as proclaimed offenders in the case while the suicide attacker was identified as Shah Fahad.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2026