ISLAMABAD: The Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced that the arrest of four facilitators involved in the recent suicide attack, including the “main mastermind,” during coordinated raids in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
In this sense, Naqvi said operations were conducted throughout the night to track those responsible for the attack.
He praised the joint efforts of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and KP police, noting that the mastermind, an Afghan national linked to the banned Islamic State (Daesh), was apprehended around 3 a.m.
The minister confirmed that an assistant sub-inspector of KP police was martyred during the raids, and other personnel sustained injuries. He said that the planning and training for the attack had taken place in Afghanistan under the guidance of Daesh Afghanistan. “We have individuals providing details on the attacker’s movement and training,” he added.
In this regard, Naqvi mentioned the collaboration among terrorist groups, including Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Afghan Taliban, and Daesh. “Currently, 21 terrorist organizations operate from Afghanistan, and they are coordinating attacks across the region,” he said.
He urged citizens to report suspicious individuals to law enforcement and emphasized that for every attack, multiple incidents are prevented through intelligence-based operations.
The minister further accused India of funding and directing these terrorist organizations. He claimed that the budgets for terrorist activities have tripled since May and asserted that India is providing financial support and targets for groups like Daesh and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).
Naqvi also criticized Indian media for broadcasting BLA-related content, calling it part of a larger strategy to spread misinformation and exaggerate the group’s influence.
The Interior Ministry, on social media platform X, confirmed that technical and human intelligence facilitated the arrests in Peshawar and Nowshera. The ministry said that the arrests confirmed that planning, training, and indoctrination of the attackers were conducted in Afghanistan.
The recent attack in Islamabad’s imambargah is the deadliest in the capital since the September 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing. The incident comes less than three months after a suicide blast outside the G-11 district and sessions court in November 2025, which killed 12 people and injured more than 30.
