Pakistan on Sunday reiterated its demand for the interim Afghanistan government to hand to Islamabad terrorists of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) involved in the attack on Chinese nationals in Besham.
In March, six people—including five Chinese engineers—were killed after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into the bus transporting the group to the Dasu hydropower project in Besham. Since the attack, Pakistan has repeatedly said it originated from Afghanistan, with the Foreign Office noting Islamabad’s official call for Kabul to apprehend and handover any militants involved.
“Whether Afghanistan tries the terrorists [in court] or not, it should hand over the militants to Pakistan,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said during a joint press conference with officials of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA). Citing the inquiry into the attack, he said the TTP had undertaken the Besham terror attack from inside Afghanistan.
“[Pakistan has formally] requested the interim government in Afghanistan to arrest the leadership of TTP,” he stressed, recalling several statements from the Foreign Office, which has emphasized the “repeated” requests to Afghan authorities to take “effective action” to prevent their soil from being used against Pakistan.
According to Naqvi, the investigation report has “concrete” evidence of the TTP’s involvement and use of Afghan soil in the Besham terror attack. Maintaining that Islamabad wants friendly ties with Kabul, the minister warned this was only possible if the neighboring nation cooperated with Pakistan.
To a question, the interior minister said the government had conveyed to its Afghan counterparts that it was not seeing “good results” from them. He said the Pakistan attached great importance to its ties with China and the neighboring nations support each other at various global fora. “The security of Chinese nationals is very important to us,” he emphasized, adding the government was taking all possible measures to ensure Chinese nationals’ security.
To another question, Naqvi said the suicide attack on Chinese nationals was a planned attack aimed at endangering law and order in Pakistan.
NACTA chief Tahir Rai, meanwhile, said the vehicle used in the attack was assembled in Japan and had reached Pakistan via Afghanistan. Summarizing the investigation report, he said the suicide bomber had targeted the bus when its driver slowed down near a turn. “The bus fell into a 150-feet deep ravine and subsequently caught fire due to the explosive material,” he said, adding authorities had recovered a mobile phone with two SIMs from the crime scene. One of these SIMs, he said, was issued in the name of Adil Shah, resident of Mansehra, while the other was registered to Shafique Qureshi. “Adil Shah was in contact with terrorist Hazrat Bilal,” he said, adding both suspects were in custody.
He said two individuals—Khan Lala and Qari Abdullah—had purchased the vehicle for the terrorists in Afghanistan and the owner of a showroom, Imran Khan, was paid Rs. 260,000 to transport it to Pakistan. Overall, he said, 11 suspects were arrested in this case thus far.
To a question on how a car fitted with explosives managed to travel around 1,000km inside Pakistan without being detected, Naqvi said security officials stopped the vehicle for checking, but no suspicion was raised. He claimed action had been taken against officials over negligence in checking the car thoroughly.
To another question on what Pakistan’s response would be if the Afghan government failed to cooperate, the interior minister warned Islamabad would “take a unilateral decision.”