Karachi airport attack on Chinese nationals Mastermind, 4 BLA terrorists arrested: Lanjar

KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar on Monday announced the arrest of mastermind of attack on Chinese nationals near Karachi airport. Four facilitators of the attack were also arrested.

Addressing a press conference here, he said that on October 6, 2024, terrorists attacked a Chinese convoy coming from abroad near Quaid-e-Azam International Airport Karachi at around 11pm, killing two Chinese nationals and a Pakistani citizen and injuring 21 others.

A fire also broke out, causing severe damage to other vehicles including those part of the convoy. The banned terrorist organisation BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army) had claimed responsibility for the attack through social media, Lanjar added.

He said the CTD Sindh, during inspection of the blast site, had found the Chassis and number-plate of the exploded vehicle, and also found a hand of the bomber. The investigation identified the bomber as Fahad, whose video was also uploaded by the banned BLA on social media.

The investigation revealed that the accused was accompanied and facilitated by two suspects: rickshaw driver Farhan and facilitator Muhammad Sharif, who helped the accused purchase the vehicle, used for the blast.

The home minister said the Excise and IG Office record showed the vehicle belonged to bomber Fahad and he purchased it from a showroom in Karachi for Rs7.1 million. The investigation found that transactions for the purchase were made through a bank from Hub and one Saeed Ali and a bank employee Bilal were involved in the process. Later on, that car was used for the explosion.

Investigation further revealed that the explosive used in the blast was RDX with a chemical known as pent, combined with it for explosion, Lanjar said and added that such chemical was earlier used in Germany during World War-II and was about 40 to 42 kilograms in quantity, which the terrorists had concealed in the car cavities. The terrorists reached Karachi from Hub in the explosive-fitted car on October 4, 2024 at 4pm and used the S-4 route for the purpose. They were spotted through footages retrieved from various CCTV cameras installed on the route. They were accompanied by a woman, Gul Nisa, to dodge the police on the way. The facilitator woman, Nisa, had also been arrested.

The minister said that it was found that the suicide bomber stayed in a local hotel in Saddar Karachi. The mastermind and handler Javed had made the whole plan and he also conducted recce at the Karachi airport. On October 6, 2024, terrorists checked out the hotel, picked their other accomplices from near Jail Chowrangi and after having a round of the airport, they came to a park in front of the Marriot Hotel. There, they recorded the last video of the suicide bomber with a mobile-phone for BLA, while sitting in the car.

Afterwards, the accused Javed, with bomber Fahad and another accused, later identified as Danish, and others, went to the airport at around 9pm. The Javed left for the first floor of the airport, while the two bomb operators stayed with the bomber Fahad, the home minister provided details. It was at around 11pm when the accused Javed tipped them of the movement of the Chinese nationals, and at around 11:02pm, the terrorist attack occurred.

Ziaul Hassan Lanjar said the hunt for arrest of Danish and others was underway; however, the CTD Sindh had arrested the mastermind and facilitator lady Gul Nisa, along with three more suspects.

A main leader of the banned BLA is Basheer Zaib, who is in some foreign country, and their middleman is Gul Rehman, who is also absconding. Investigations also revealed another suspect, whose code name was found as ‘Washne’ for which investigations are underway.

The minister said that on night of Nov 10, 2024, masterminds Javed alias Sami alias Samir, and woman facilitator Gul Nisa, were arrested from Umar Goth Chowk Karachi near RCD Highway. They were coming from Hub on a motorcycle to Karachi when arrested by the CTD.

Further investigation found out that the network of terrorists was spread to Balochistan and other countries and they were carrying out terrorist act in Pakistan for quite some time.

The home minister congratulated IGP Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon and his team and also announced a reward of Rs50 million for the CTD and its team over successful conclusion of the high-profile case.