Head of 2nd squad of APS attackers arrested

Taj Muhammad alias Rizwan was one of the main executors in Peshawar’s Army Public School

ISLAMABAD: The army on Monday claimed it has arrested one of the main executors of the tragic attack on a military-run school in Peshawar which left over 140 people dead.

“Another terrorist, Taj Muhammad alias Rizwan, one of the main executors in Peshawar’s Army Public School (APS) attack has been arrested by security forces in an intelligence based operation,” the army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.

The ISPR said Taj Muhammad was commander of the 2nd group which attacked the APS on December 16. The other terrorist group was being led by Atiqueur Rehman alias Usman, who has already been apprehended by security forces.

The 27-year-old Taj Muhammad alias Rizwan is resident of Sippah, Koi Chowk Bara Khyber. He was disguising as an IDP (Internally Displaced Person) in village Pawakai, Peshawar.

Taj Muhammad confessed he has been affiliated with banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since 2008 and is involved in many other terrorist activities in North Waziristan Agency and around Peshawar, the ISPR said.

On February 12, the military said it nabbed the ‘terrorist group’ which was behind the APS attack.

It said nine out of the 27 terrorists involved in the attack were killed while twelve of them were arrested including six each from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2015.