• Police say key facilitators, weapon smugglers also detained
• SSP claims attackers were trained in Afghanistan
• Reveals terrorists entered Karachi via Hub, procured weapons in metropolis
KARACHI: The “mastermind” of the deadly attack on a Rangers camp in Karachi last month has been arrested along with his alleged facilitators, police said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference alongside Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of the Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) Irfan Bahadur claimed the involvement of elements from Afghanistan in the attack.
The SSP CTD identified the “mastermind” of the attack as Qari Basheer alias Qari Habib, saying that he was arrested during an operation by Rangers following the incident.
He also said that some of Qari Basheer’s “main facilitators” and the “main smugglers” who provided weapons to the terrorists had also been arrested.
Providing details on the attack, SSP Bahadur listed the “four phases” of carrying out the attack: “First of all, the planning and training of terrorists in Afghanistan. Secondly, four Afghan terrorists being taken from Afghanistan to Karachi.”
SSP Bahadur added that there was “backing from Afghanistan to run the facilitator group in Karachi”, while also giving them instructions “till the last stage from Afghanistan”. “And lastly, the provision of weapons, ammunition and suicide jackets to terrorists,” he said.
He identified the suicide bomber as Janaan, who was a resident of Afghanistan’s Farah province. Another terrorist was named Bilal alias Hadi, who was born in Bajaur and later moved to Kandahar across the border.
The senior officer named the third terrorist, who was killed, as Umer Farooq, a resident of Afghanistan’s Kunar. The attacker, who was arrested in an injured condition, was identified as Usman Sher Mohammad, hailing from Nangarhar.
SSP Bahadur said those involved in planning the attack included Noor Wali, the head of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Others were named as Sher Wali alias Mukhlisyar and TTP Shura member Saeed Shah, who provided “all information” to Baseer, a leader of terror outfit Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA).
According to the SSP, these three called the attack’s mastermind, Qari Basheer, from Afghanistan to Pakistan and “gave him the responsibility” to carry out the attack.
In a video aired during the press conference, Qari Basheer could be heard saying that he met Saeed Shah in Afghanistan, who arranged his meeting with Noor Wali and Sher Wali. “They gave me a task for action against the police, army and Rangers in Karachi,” he said in the video.
‘Trained in Afghanistan’
SSP Bahadur then recalled information revealed by the attacker Usman during his interrogation, who said they were trained in “various camps in Afghanistan” and then sent into Pakistan for the Rangers camp attack.
The police officer said Moulvi Tahir, an “important member” of the TTP, “chose Usman from Jamia Siddiqia in Kunar, Afghanistan” and handed him over to JuA’s Qari Abdul Manaan. He added that the four attackers were trained in two training camps in Nangarhar. A video of Usman’s statement was also played.
The officer elaborated that the four terrorists entered Pakistan after moving through various areas in Afghanistan. Another video of Usman was played, in which he provided information about the process.
The group of four terrorists passed through areas of Balochistan to reach Hub, where they were dropped off at Chamra Chowrangi in a car, the police official said, adding that the attackers were provided shelter in Hub in a rented room by Qari Basheer. “Qari Basheer and his 13 other facilitators provided full facilitation to these four terrorists in taking them there, besides accommodation and providing transport to carry out the terrorist attack on the KTC Rangers camp,” he said.
“Out of these facilitators, Qari Basheer along with the main facilitators have already been arrested,” the SSP stated, adding that the main facilitators were all relatives of Qari Basheer.
He then played a purported video of Qari Basheer, who detailed how the terrorists procured the ammunition and the suicide jacket. He could be heard saying that TTP’s Saeed Shah informed him that the jacket had reached Karachi, after which he picked it up from an unknown person.
Similarly, he also received eight hand grenades from an unknown person.
SSP Bahadur then stated that the group responsible for providing weapons was led by Rahim Afridi and six others. “The main smugglers in this group who provide weapons have been arrested.”
These included a weapons smuggler identified as Ehsanullah, who had given the arms to Qari Basheer in Korangi, the SSP noted.
Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2026