CTD says TTP behind attack on Chinese nationals

PESHAWAR: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Monday said the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was involved in the attack on Chinese nationals in Bisham on March 26.

An official of the CTD said four key terrorists behind the terror act had been arrested. “A headway has been made into the case. The network of terrorists involved was uncovered after hectic efforts by the Joint Investigation Team assisted by all law enforcement agencies,” the spokesman for the CTD KP said, adding major players in the network involved in the attack had been identified.

“Four terrorists identified as Adil Shehbaz, Muhammad Shafiq Qureshi, Zahid Qureshi and Nazeer Hussain, all from Mansehra, have been arrested. Efforts are being made to unearth the entire network behind the attack,” said the spokesman.

He added the held accused Adil Shehbaz of Jalalabad, Oghi, Mansehra district, was affiliated to the TTP and had confessed to playing a key role in the execution of the attack.

A convoy of Chinese nationals was on its way from Islamabad to the Dassu Hydropower Project on March 26. A car with explosives exploded close to the bus at around 1:01 pm, about 6 kms after crossing Bisham city when the convoy was overtaking the car.

The federal government took a serious notice of the attack and ordered a high-level investigation. Four senior police officials, including the Regional Police Officer Hazara, commandant of the Special Security Unit and district police officers of Upper and Lower Kohistan districts, were suspended by the federal government after a probe.

This was the second attack in the last three years on Chinese engineers working in the area. In July 2021, 13 people, including 9 Chinese nationals, two Frontier Constabulary personnel and two locals were killed when their coach was bombed in the Dasu area of Kohistan.

Reports later said the mastermind of the attack Tariq Rafiq was killed in the Kunar province of Afghanistan in July 2023. Two others, Muhammad Hussain and Ayaz, were awarded death sentences by an Anti-Terrorism Court in November 2022 for their involvement in the attack.