The plot to target a mosque in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was hatched in Afghanistan, Pakistan's law enforcement agency said on Tuesday. On January 30, a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up during afternoon prayers in a Peshawar mosque. The attack took the lives of 101 people and injured more than 200 others.
The bomber disguised himself in a police uniform to sneak into the high-security zone. He was riding a motorcycle with a helmet and mask on, a top police official said. The Peshawar mosque suicide attack conspiracy was hatched in Afghanistan. It was funded by the intelligence agency based in Kabul, investigating officials said.
The motorcycle used in the blast was sold twice in Sarki Gate, Peshawar's bustling market. Police said they have arrested the sellers of the motorcycle. Police sources said the security agencies arrested 17 suspects involved in the blast. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Police Chief Moazzam Jah Ansari said the suicide bomber's identity has been identified through his DNA samples.
The bomber left his helmet at the gate before entering the highly-secured mosque which was captured in the CCTV footage.
"The facilitators behind this heinous attack will be arrested soon," he said. Pakistan has been hit by a wave of terrorist attacks, mostly in the country's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but also in Balochistan and Punjab.
The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the outfit later distanced itself from the attack.
During the Apex Committee meeting held earlier this month, Pakistan’s civil and military leadership decided to seek Afghan Taliban chief Haibuttallah Akhundzada’s intervention to control the TTP.
(With inputs from PTI)
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