Detained terrorist reveals suicide bombers 'desensitised' before carrying out attacks

A video has surfaced in which a terrorist associated with outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Rooh Ullah, revealed that injections were administered to the attackers to numb them a few days before their departure for the terror attacks.

In a video statement, the detained terrorist made revelations about his and other suicide bombers' training in a seminary in Afghanistan and how they infiltrate the Pakistan-Afghanistan border via facilitators.

He was caught by security forces who along with other suicide bombers illegally crossed the Afghan border to enter Pakistan to carry out bombings in a cantonment area. However, the terror plot was foiled by security personnel via timely action.

The terrorist, in his statement, said that he was a student of a seminary — Tarteel-ul-Quran — in Tortam village in Afghanistan's Dangam for one year.

He said that the seminary gives training to suicide bombers and he also received training for 10 days. Molvi Sibghatullah along with Farooq and Zakir taught them about suicide bombings in the seminary, said Rooh Ullah.

He also revealed that injections were administered to the attackers two days before their departure [for the missions] to numb them, after which they could no longer comprehend what was happening around them.

After the completion of their training, Rooh Ullah along with four others were transported to Batish village of Nari district in a green-coloured vehicle and later they started travelling to the Afghan border.

He said that a facilitator namely Jawad received the group of suicide bombers who helped them to enter Pakistani territory and after that, responsibility for the group's next destination was handed over to another man — Sajjad.

According to the arrested terrorist, two suicide bombers including Sajid and Abid were separated from them and Sajjad took him to a mosque.

The handler had instructed him to meet another person Suleman on a bridge. After travelling for one hour, they reached a tunnel where he and Suleman separated again.

He said that Suleman had asked him to receive a suicide vest from Jameel who would also guide him about carrying out an attack in a cantonment area.

He further said that he was given directions to ride a truck but he was immediately arrested by security forces after entering the vehicle.

However, he did not disclose details of which areas they were going to target and from where he got arrested in a raid.

Pakistan witnessed a surge in terror activities over the past few months, particularly in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan provinces, for which the government and military blamed the terrorists operating from Afghan soil to launch cross-border attacks inside the country.

Islamabad has time and again urged the Kabul administration to take decisive action against the terror outfits involved in targeting security forces and civilians in Pakistan.

The federal government, intending to cope with rising terrorism, including cross-border infiltration, launched operation "Azm-e-Istehkam," a renewed national anti-terror drive as part of the National Action Plan earlier this year in June.

In another move to shift its war on terror from a physical to an ideological front, the government had categorised the outlawed TTP as "Fitna al-Khawarij" in July.

The government also made it mandatory for all institutions to use "Khariji" before the names of perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Pakistan, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior.

According to the notification, titles such as 'Mufti' and 'Hafiz' will not be used for individuals associated with terrorist organisations, while in all correspondence and documents, the term "Khariji" will be written and read before their names.