Investigation under way: ‘Terrorists used stolen vehicle in Imamia Mosque attack’

CTD official says car belonged to Punjab-based businessman, was stolen in 2013

PESHAWAR: Investigation into the Imamia Mosque attack that claimed 23 lives on February 13 has revealed that the vehicle used to transport the terrorists was stolen from Wah Cantonment, Punjab in April 2013.

The vehicle is owned by a businessman hailing from Sialkot and currently residing in Wah Cantt, according to officials.

“He bought the car from Azad Kashmir and it was stolen in April 2013. An FIR was registered about the theft this year via a court order,” an official of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) told The Express Tribune.

He added police have already ascertained that one of the suicide bombers hailed from Bara in Khyber Agency and was trained in a Lashkar-e-Islam camp. “He was probably handed over to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to carry out the devastating suicide and gun attack,” said the CTD official.

At least 23 people were killed in the brazen assault on Imamia Mosque in Phase-V, Hayatabad on February 13 during Friday prayers. The Umar Mansoor faction of the TTP claimed responsibility for the attack and released supposed pictures and names of the assailants.

“The same Umar Mansoor group also carried out the Army Public School massacre in Peshawar. Both attacks are near identical,” another official told The Express Tribune earlier. He added the group’s leader Aurangzeb, alias Naray, has been nominated in the FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2015.