37 members of IS module held for attack on Kabul gurdwara

NEWDELHI: Afghan security forces have arrested 37 members of the so-called Islamic State Khorasan Province terrorist module that had targeted a Kabul gurdwara last month. The arrests were made in the last 24 hours after Afghan forces caught Aslam Farooqui, the Pakistani national who led the terror group ISKP known to have strong links with Pakistan’s ISI that carries out offthe-shelf jihad at its instance.

Among the 37 who have been arrested are 14 women and children. A majority of them are Pakistani nationals.

Aslam Farooqui and the members of his module are being interrogated in the presence of US security agencies outside Kabul, people familiar with the developments in Delhi and Kabul said.

Afghanistan vice president Amrullah Saleh cheered the Afghan intelligence agency for the breakthrough. “I am sure he is already singing & will sing more to the dismay of his patrons in & out. A treasure of intelligence. Make him talk,” he tweeted. The reference to Farooqui’s patrons is seen to be pointing to Pakistan’s intel agency ISI.

The Farooqui-led module targeted Sikh worshippers at Gurdwara

Har Rai in Shor Bazaar Kabul on March 25. The Taliban rushed to deny its involvement in the gurdwara attack. The ISKP came forward to claim responsibility.

But its assertion that the strike was revenge for Muslims in Kashmir was a dead giveaway for Pakistani deep state, people mentioned above said.

ISKP chief Aslam Farooqui’s links with Pakistan’s ISI have been too well known. Farooqi, also known as Abdullah Orakzai, is a former commander of the

Lashkar-e-Tayyiba with direct links to the ISI. His 4,000-strong ISKP group operates with other groups like the Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

It largely comprises defectors from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and other Islamic terrorist outfits active in the Afghan-Pakistan area along the Durand Line, including elements from the LeT, Jaish and Haqqani network.

The LeT already has a presence in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces and is in expansion mode.

REUTERS FILE Afghan Sikh men carrying a coffin of one of the victims who was killed in the attack, in Kabul, Afghanistan.