Wagah bombing mastermind among 3 TTP militants killed in Lahore: sources

Intelligence agencies had been searching for TTP commander Asadullah since the Nov 2 bombing, which killed 60 people

LAHORE: Three Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists, including the alleged mastermind of the Wagah border bombing last year, were killed in an operation conducted by security forces in Lahore on Saturday, sources confirmed to The Express Tribune. 

The joint operation was carried out by the police and intelligence and law enforcement agencies at a house in the Burki area of the city on a tip-off regarding the presence of  TTP Lahore Commander Asadullah alias Roohullah alias Qureshi, the alleged mastermind.

Police officials said when the raiding team reached the area, Asadullah and his two accomplices opened fire at the raiding party after which the police fired back in retaliation. The exchange of fire continued for at least half-an-hour.

When the firing stopped from the other side, the policemen entered the house and recovered the bodies of three alleged terrorists.

A senior police official confirmed to The Express Tribune that a huge cache of arms, explosives, suicide vests, detonators, militant literature and other equipment was recovered from the house.

Police claimed that all three militants killed hailed from Bajaur and belonged to TTP's Mullah Fazlullah group. Their bodies have been shifted to a morgue.

The other two alleged militants were identified as Miraj Khan, Asadullah's brother, and one Umar Farooq.

Intelligence agencies had been trying to track down the alleged mastermind of the Wagah attack since the November 2 bombing that killed at least 60 people -- nearly half of whom were women and children. A suicide bomber struck near the Wagah border crossing between Pakistan and India just after a ritual flag-lowering ceremony.

Previously, officials had said that the attack had been carefully planned. The bomber had stood just far enough from a picket to avoid a body search.

It was learnt that the attackers had brought two suicide jackets to Wagah Border; one claimed the lives of 60 people, while the other was found undetonated near the site of the explosion the next day. Police suspected that the vests were transported in one of the trucks arriving at the NLC Yard.

A TTP spokesperson had claimed the attack, calling it the first in a series of attacks in retaliation for the military operation – Operation Zarb-e-Azb -- in North Waziristan.