Macabre confessions of a terror facilitator

KARACHI:

From swearing to protect the lives of citizens as a police constable to stringing together one of the deadliest bomb attacks in the country's history, terrorist Muhammad Wali chillingly narrates how his perceived path to heaven is one that actually leads to the depths of hell.

In a confessional statement, Wali recalls he was contacted on Facebook in 2021 through the ID of someone named Junaid.

Junaid was a recruiting agent for Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the banned terrorist outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban. Wali adds that Junaid was using social media, while sitting in Afghanistan, to recruit terrorists across the border in Pakistan.

"Junaid asked me to meet him in Afghanistan," he remembers. "In 2021, I took a week off work and went to Afghanistan via the Chaman border.

The police constable-turned-terrorist then reveals that after meeting Junaid in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, he was taken to Shonkada, Chaknaor, and Kunar where he was introduced to terrorist commanders Salahuddin and Makarim Khurasani.

"After the meeting, I joined Jamaatul Ahrar and swore allegiance to the hand of terrorist commander Mullah Yusuf." Perhaps as a reward for joining the militant outfit, Wali remembers receiving Rs20,000.

"On my return, I was arrested by Afghan forces, but was released after Jamaatul Ahrar intervened.

In 2023, the terrorist facilitator was posted at the Police Lines in Peshawar. "Junaid told me to avenge Commander Khalid Khurasani's death," he says, looking back to the time his actions led to the death of well over 80 people.

Khorasani fell victim to a roadside bomb attack in the Paktika province near the Barmal district of Afghanistan. Two of his trusted aides also perished in the same explosion.

"In January 2023, I sent pictures and maps of the Police Lines to Junaid via Telegram." Acting as the eyes and ears for the terrorists, he then conducted reconnaissance work for the suicide bomber.

"The name of the suicide bomber was Qari, and he was an Afghan national," Determined to make the gruesome mission a success, he personally drove to pick up the suicide bomber from Charsadda Mosque.

"I took the suicide bomber on a motorcycle to Rahman Baba Graveyard where I helped him dress into a police uniform and concealed suicide jacket," he reveals. The former constable then dropped the bomber at the Police Lines, while Wali decided to sit out the rest of the melee and return home. "The suicide bomber went to the mosque, and I came home."

He recalls that when the explosion occurred, he sent a message to Junaid on Telegram. "The attack is a success," he chillingly wrote.

He narrates how he received Rs200,000 via hundi as payment for his role in sending 84 innocent souls to their graves. If broken down, that equates to just over Rs2,325 for each life he was paid to claim.

Since the cat is already out of the bag, Wali does not hold back on the confessions as he admits to pivotal roles in other attacks.

"In January 2022, I killed a Christian priest in Peshawar. In 2023 and 2024, I carried out several IED attacks on Warsak Road, Peshawar. In December 2023, I carried out a grenade attack in Guliani Market.

His involvement in various acts of terror continued into February 2024, when he provided a pistol to a terrorist for the murder of a minority Ahmadiyya community member.

"I contacted Saifullah from Jamaatul Ahrar in Lahore and provided him with the pistol with which he killed the victim."

Jogging his memory further towards the present day, Wali says that in March of this year, he was contacted by a terrorist named Faizan Butt in Lahore. Once again, his role was to be that of a facilitator. "I gave Faizan Butt a pistol with which he killed two police personnel.

In May 2024, I provided explosives for terrorist activities at various locations in Peshawar."

He goes further by confessing to sending a suicide jacket to a terrorist named Luqman in Lahore for a bus attack; luckily, the bomb was apprehended before the explosion.

In June of the same year, he delivered another suicide jacket to Rahman Baba Graveyard in Bara, Khyber. Shortly after, he also hid another suicide jacket at Motorway Chowk in Peshawar.

The monthly salary for becoming the right-hand man of terror was Rs40,000 to Rs50,000, which he again received via hundi.

As his final act before his arrest, Wali, at Junaid's behest, went to Jamil Chowk in Peshawar, to collect two suicide jackets.

Fortunately for the rest of the country, this key facilitator for a deadly terrorist organisation is firmly behind bars. Nothing will be able to heal the pain of those who lost loved ones in the Police Lines explosion, but perhaps these grieving families can take some solace in the fact that one of the main culprits has been brought to justice.