Sakhi Sarwar shrine blast: Bomber may be targeted by Taliban

Intelligence agency says TTP plans to kidnap or assassinate Umer Fidai.

LAHORE:

Intelligence reports have suggested that terrorists plan to abduct or kill the two arrested attackers of the Sakhi Sarwar shrine, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Would-be suicide bomber Umer Fidai and mastermind Behram Khan are insiders of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to the report, and know about training camps in Waziristan as well as important commanders, trainers and handlers of the network. Fidai, in an interview on April 8, had said that as many as 350 bombers were being trained in Mir Ali, North Waziristan.

Failed attackers have been targeted by their networks in the past. The surviving terrorist of the May 2010 attacks on Ahmadi places of worship in Lahore was attacked in Jinnah Hospital, Lahore.

The report states that the TTP plans to kidnap or assassinate Fidai and Khan inside their jails or when they are on their way to or returning from court. Fidai will now be presented on May 10 before an anti-terrorism court in Dera Ghazi Khan.

Meanwhile, another report stated that the TTP has prepared two suicide bombers who have been assigned to mount attacks in Punjab. According to information received by intelligence agencies, their names are Habibullah and Shah Faisal.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2011.