Police arrest ‘facilitator, handler’ involved in Islamabad court blast

ISLAMABAD: Security agencies on Thursday claimed to have arrested the handler and the facilitator of suicide attackers, who blew himself up outside Islamabad’s District Judicial Complex in G-11.

The sources said that the facilitator was arrested from the Dhoke Pracha area of Rawalpindi, where he had been living for the past month, while the handler was detained from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Both suspects, along with the suicide bomber, visited the judicial complex multiple times to conduct recce missions before the attack to finalise the plan, the sources said.

The suspects have been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation, they added.

The latest development comes a day after police arrested the motorcyclist who transported the suicide bomber to the site of Tuesday’s deadly blast. The online bike rider dropped the attacker near the court for a fare of Rs200, police said.

Police said the attacker blew himself up as he approached a police vehicle, setting nearby cars ablaze and scattering debris across the area.

A day earlier, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said that the suicide bomber was an Afghan national. “I can confirm that the attacker was an Afghan national,” the minister told a private news channel.

Earlier on Wednesday, investigation agencies revealed that the suicide bomber was a resident of Bajaur and arrived in Islamabad on Friday. He travelled on a motorcycle to the G-11 district courts from the Pirwadhai area of Rawalpindi.

According to investigators, the terrorist had covered himself with a shawl and was carrying around eight kilograms of explosives packed with ball bearings.

The deadly blast outside the district court’s complex on Tuesday killed 12 and injured more than 30 people, with the courts remaining closed today, and security was stepped up at other court buildings across the city.