According to information obtained by The Express Tribune from the handler of the suicide bomber who detonated himself at a small mosque under construction in the mountainous Ali Masjid area of Khyber tribal district last month, the terrorist left Afghanistan 20 days prior to the evil act, abandoning his wedding plans back home.
An Extra SHO On July 24, Adnan Afridi was killed when a bomber, later revealed to be 22-year-old Ansar, detonated his device inside the Ali Masjid mosque, which is located in a mountainous area.
In violation of Afghan law, Ansar crossed into Khyber through the Shalman Mountains. As Abu Zar, Ansar’s handler, explained, “He stayed with me at a farmhouse in Landi Kotal for two nights,” and it was in Landi Kotal that Ansar was given his suicide vest. The province of Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan is where Ansar received his training.
The bomber and his handler only used WhatsApp for all of their correspondence. Twenty days before his wedding, he skipped out on the planning and traveled to Pakistan, where he detonated an explosive device inside the unfinished Ali Masjid.
“On July 25, he put on the suicide vest, which he had received in Landi Kotal, and boarded a Suzuki Carry that we rented for Rs1,000 at Sultan Khel to drive us to Ali Masjid,” Abu Zar added to The Express Tribune.
Ansar’s suspicious presence drew police attention as they neared the area around Ali Masjid. In a final act of desperation, he walked into the mosque and set off the explosives he was wearing, destroying the entire building. “I was arrested on the scene,” he continued.
According to Abu Zar, Ansar entered Pakistan for the first time when he arrived from Afghanistan, and he was helped all the way from the Afghan border to Landi Kotal. “We wanted to target a police vehicle or security forces convoy,” he explained.
Sohail Khalid, DIG of the Counter Terrorism Department, told The Express Tribune that the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is responsible for the vast majority of terrorist activity in Pakistan, was behind the attack on the Ali Masjid. The plot and execution of the attack originated in that country. At Landi Kotal, the bomber “exchanged his police uniform for civilian garb in an attempt to deceive the unwary,” he said.
DIG Khalid stated that eight people who helped the bomber had been arrested as a result of the investigation that followed the incident. They consist of the farmer who hosted the bomber for two nights and the driver of the Suzuki Carry that transported him to the target.
Terrorist assaults in Pakistan have seen a sharp increase in recent weeks. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has experienced five suicide attacks in the past two months, three of which occurred in Khyber and one each in Peshawar and Bajaur. He said that the TTP was responsible for four of the assaults and that the TTP and Da’ish collaborated on the bombing in Bajaur.
“We have uncovered the network responsible for the Peshawar, Khyber, and Bajaur attacks. DIG Khalid has stated that its members will be brought to justice. Additionally, he disclosed that the Da’ish was responsible for the recent murders of Sikh community members and religious academics.
On July 30, a suicide bomber attacked a public demonstration held by Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F in Bajaur, killing dozens of people and wounding many more. Both the TTP and the Afghan Taliban were quick to condemn the atrocities, although Da’ish eventually claimed responsibility.
In the wake of the massacre, the Pakistani government reiterated its demand that the Taliban administration in Kabul take action against the TTP, which has been exploiting Afghan territory as a base from which to launch strikes inside Pakistan.
