PESHAWAR: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has apprehended over 10 terrorists and their accomplices connected to the recent assault on Chinese engineers in Bisham city, Shangla, last week, according to sources cited by Private Media on Monday.
These sources suggest that certain factions affiliated with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are suspected to have orchestrated the deadly attack on March 26.
The attack resulted in the tragic deaths of five Chinese nationals, including a female, and a Pakistani driver. Their vehicle was targeted in Shangla’s Besham city, where a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into their car.
Subsequent to the incident, prominent figures such as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari, and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir condemned the atrocity, pledging to ensure justice for the perpetrators.
In response to security concerns, Chinese companies overseeing projects at the Dasu and Diamer-Bhasha Dams temporarily halted civil work at both sites. Approximately 991 Chinese engineers were engaged in these projects, with local staff instructed to remain at home until further notice.
A Chinese investigative team has arrived in Pakistan to probe the incident, following an expression of readiness from China’s military to collaborate with Pakistan on enhancing security capabilities against various threats, including terrorism.
CTD sources indicate that the apprehended terrorist commander, responsible for bringing the suicide bomber from Afghanistan to Pakistan, along with four facilitators, has been detained. Investigations have uncovered that the explosive-laden vehicle used in the attack was assembled in Afghanistan and transported to Darazinda in Dera Ismail Khan via the Pak-Afghan Chaman border crossing.
Moreover, a facilitator involved in transporting the vehicle from Chaman to Chakdara has been arrested by security forces. It was then brought to the attack site on the day of the incident after being parked for 10 days, incurring a daily cost of Rs500.
The alleged mastermind behind the attack, Hazrat Bilal, remains at large and is also wanted in connection with the Dasu dam attack. However, with two of the suicide bomber’s accomplices already in custody, the CTD anticipates the imminent arrest of Bilal.
The arrests were facilitated by leveraging the mobile and SIM data of the suicide bomber, which he had acquired through an intermediary, according to CTD sources.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
