‘Mastermind’ of major terror attacks in Balochistan held

Syed Ahmed confesses to planning attacks on Quetta lawyers, police cadets and Shah Noorani shrine

QUETTA: The man who ‘masterminded’ the most brutal terrorists attacks in Balochistan province has been arrested by the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs), claims Sarfaraz Bugti, the Home Minister.

“We have booked Syed Ahmed alias Taqwa, the mastermind behind the last year’s major terrorist attacks in Balochistan,” said Bugti on Tuesday while addressing a news conference in Quetta alongside Balochistan Inspector General Police Ahsan Mehboob.

Syed Ahmed, according to the home minister, is the architect of attacks, including the August 8 massacre of lawyers, the October 26 killing of police cadets and the November 12 blast at Shah Noorani shrine. More than 180 people had been killed and hundreds of others injured in these attacks, claimed by the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Islamic State (IS).



“He has confessed to planning a number of attacks including those on Quetta lawyers, cadet’s at the police training centre and Shah Noorani shrine,” said the home minister about the arrested terrorist.

“He also plotted the targeted killing of Barrister Amanullah Achakzai, Balochistan Bar Association’s former president Bilal Anwer Kasi and police and Frontier Corps officials,” claimed Bugti.

A resident of Quetta, the accused first joined the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and then started working for the LeJ as well, he said.



During the press conference, a confessional video was also shown in which Syed Ahmed – flanked by two other men with faces covered – revealed that he joined the TTP in 2014 and went to Waziristan and Afghanistan for training. Later, he was selected as a member of the TTP’s Balochistan wing.

“After the killing of Barrister Amanullah Achakzai, we decided to target the lawyers’ community in big numbers and plotted the August 8 attack,” Syed Ahmed said, also confessing to his involvement in several other incidents of targetted killing of policemen and the FC personnel.

Answering a question about the kidnapping of Secretary Higher Education Abdullah Jan, the home minister said the civil administration and security forces had closed in on the kidnappers, who would soon be apprehended.



He said the forces had taken measure that helped them unearth elements behind the brutal attacks. “And soon other accomplices of Syed Ahmed will also be apprehended,” he added.

Lauding police, Levies and the FC for rounding up the culprits involved in such high-profile terrorist activities, Bugti said the government would soon increase salaries of the personnel of LEAs in the province.

He said efforts were also being made to improve professional capacity of the LEAs, and all available resources were being utilised in this regard. “Balochistan government will continue the war against terrorism, with the help of the LEAs and the federal government,” he added.