FIA arrests TTP commander from Peshawar airport

PESHAWAR: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested a commander of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from the Bacha Khan International Airport who was on his way to Dubai, officials said on Monday.

An official of the FIA said that Maulvi Bahadur Jan, a senior TTP commander from Bannu, was travelling to Dubai via a private airline when the authorities arrested him.

His name had been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) on the recommendation of the Counter-Terrorism Department of the KP Police. Officials said the held TTP commander was handed over to the CTD for interrogation. Meanwhile, bomb disposal unit experts rushed to the Tatara Park in Hayatabad after a suspicious bag was found near a swing.

Police cordoned off the area as bomb disposal experts defused around one kilogram of explosives placed in the bag. The suspicious bag was first spotted by the guards who alerted the Safe Hayatabad Project authorities and later the police and the bomb disposal unit reached there.

“The station house officer went to the spot when someone called it after seeing an IED placed under the merry-go-round. The BDU was called after the area was vacated,” a police official said.

The official said there were no detonators, prima chord or safety fuses with the IED. However, a smart watch without a SIM was placed nearby. The official said nails and fertiliser was also found with the explosives. Extraordinary security arrangements were made in Peshawar and other districts of the province during Eidul Fitr due to various threats.