PAF Camp Badabher: CTD arrests woman for facilitating attackers

PESHAWAR:

The counter-terrorism department (CTD) arrested a woman who has been accused of facilitating the attack on Pakistan Air Force base in Badabher. She was arrested by the Special Police Unit of CTD in a raid on the outskirts of the city, a handout issued on Thursday stated.

At least 14 terrorists attacked the airbase on September 18, 2015, leaving 29 people, including a captain, dead and 31 injured. “During the investigation, Zari Zadgai alias Perveen, a resident of Telabanad village, [was] arrested. She [is accused of] providing terrorists with food and supplying empty bottles to them, which were later used to assemble explosive devices,” the handout added.

Separately, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) acquitted a woman and her sons who were taken into custody in May 2013. Manfajara and her four sons, Ashfaq Ahmad, Kastir Gul, Asadullah and Irfan, were arrested, along with another man, for possessing suicide jackets and explosives during a search operation in Tarnab farm. The court acquitted the five over lack of evidence earlier. The prosecution submitted an appeal against ATC’s decision in PHC, which directed the special court to rehear the case. However, even the second time around, evidence was found to be inconclusive.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2016.