Eight witnesses testify in Sehwan shrine attack case

Commencing the trial in the Sehwan shrine attack case, an anti-terrorism court on Thursday recorded the testimonies of eight prosecution witnesses against two suspects held for providing assistance to Islamic States (IS) terrorists for carrying out the bomb blast.

At least 82 people were killed and 383 wounded as a suicide bomber targeted the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on February 16, 2017. The victims included children and women.

Eight witnesses, including a judicial magistrate (JM), a tappay daar, two doctors and survivors, testified before the ATC-16 judge. The hearing lasted for hours and the court’s time was extended to complete the proceedings of the day.

On a previous hearing, the court had indicted Nadir Ali and Furqan as alleged facilitators of the attack. Both the accused were arrested by the Counter Terrorism Department. The accused allegedly worked for the banned terrorist group, IS, also known as Daesh.

According to the investigators, the accused and their absconding accomplices facilitated the attack. They were directed to do so by Mufti Hidayatullah, a chief of IS in Pakistan, who was reportedly killed by security forces in Kalat in July, 2018.

The JM told the ATC judge that Ali had confessed before him that he provided shelter to the attackers. Investigators had also found evidence against him that rented a guesthouse in Sehwan where the suicide bomber allegedly stayed overnight.

The charge sheet said that Ali did a recce of the shrine for three days and passed on the information to Hidayatullah. who then prepared a suicide bomber, identified as Barar Brohi, and sent him alongwith Ali to Sehwan.

Abdul Sattar, Ejaz Bangalzai, Zulqarnain, Tanvir and Saifullah, have been named as co-accused in the case. Investigators said that the accused had worked with terrorist groups in Balochistan and southern Punjab. The court adjourned the hearing till October 15 summoning more witnesses to appear and record their testimonies.