Investigators say int'l terror outfit behind attack on JUI-S chief, others

PESHAWAR: Senior investigators believed that an international terrorist network that carried out attack on a police party in Peshawar in May was behind attacks on religious personalities in the country, including suicide attack on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami chief Maulana Hamidul Haq in February.

The group was identified after the suicide attack on a police car in the limits of Chamkani Police Station last month. Two policemen were martyred and three others wounded in the attack on May 11.

A source said the suicide bomber was identified to be a foreigner who hailed from a Central Asian country. During the investigation, he added, some other members of the ring, including foreigners, were identified.

The embassy concerned about these foreigners was also approached and informed about the involvement of their citizens, it was revealed. The source disclosed that the same network was believed to be involved in attack on Maulana Hamidul Haq, the chief of JUIS, who was martyred in a suicide attack outside the mosque in Darul Uloom Haqqania in Nowshera on February 28.

The source added that the suicide bomber, who targeted police in Peshawar, was launched to carry out attack on a rally of JUIF in the vicinity on May 11 but he detonated explosives around his vest when intercepted by the cops. The rally was addressed by JUIF chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

The source added that the same terror network was suspected to be behind a series of targeted attacks on religious personalities in Pishtakhara and other parts of Peshawar. Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed confirmed that the police had reached close to the group involved in the attack on Maulana Hamidul Haq and other religious figures. A senior official said some facilitators had been held while it had been learnt that they were getting funds from abroad.