Main handler of Peshawar suicide bomber among 3 killed in operation: police

Peshawar police on Wednesday claimed to have killed the main handler and two other accomplices of the suicide bomber who blew himself up in a Shia mosque located in city’s Kocha Risaldar area last week. Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ijaz Khan confirmed the development to Dawn.com and said that the trio were eliminated during a joint operation carried out by the Counter Terrorism Department and Khyber police in the district’s border areas on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. In the operation, he said, the main handler of the attacker who “received him in the provincial capital, provided him stay and guided him” was killed.

The CCPO added that the operation was carried out on the basis of a tip-off and the slain terrorists were also involved in other terror activities.

The blast had shaken Peshawar’s Kocha Risaldar area on Friday last week, killing 63 people and injuring several others.

CCPO Khan said while the suicide bomber had been identified, further investigations into the incident were under way. The city police chief said that some facilitators of the bomber had also been arrested with the help of CCTV footage.

Initial investigation reveals that the bomber had a form-B (birth certificate) issued by the National Database and Registration Authority, he said, adding that his residential address was of Peshawar. “His (the bomber) family members also have Pakistani documents,” Khan said.

However, all these documents were probably acquired on the basis of fake information, the CCPO said, adding that further investigation would make the situation clearer.