Pak shrine attack kingpin arrested

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Friday arrested key suspect, involved in blast at Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, along with his accomplices during an operation in Karachi.

Sindh Inspector General (IG) Allah Dino Khawaja said that terrorist identified as Nadir Jhakarani aka Murshad belongs to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS or Daesh).

He said that a report has also been presented to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah in this regard.

 On February 17, more than 70 people were killed while several others sustained severe injuries as a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the crowded shrine of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif.

ISIS claimed the responsibility for the attack, saying a suicide bomber had targeted devotees at the shrine in Sindh.

The high death toll at the shrine makes it one of the worst attacks in Pakistan in recent years.

Pakistan army, which has cracked down on insurgent groups in recent years leading to a sharp drop in militant violence, has vowed a swift, decisive response.  

“Each drop of nation’s blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone,” Army Chief Genereal Qamar Javed Bajwa said in a statement.

Shortly after the blast, the Army closed border with Afghanistan with immediate effect for security reasons. Insurgents operate on either side of the neighbours’ long and porous frontier.

Last year in November, a similar kind of bomb blast was reported at Shah Noorani shrine in Hub area of Balochistan that left over 52 killed and dozens of others wounded.