In custody: Man confesses to sheltering Bilour’s assassin

CTD's collaboration with other intelligence organisations has helped collect information on terrorism cases

PESHAWAR:

A member of a militant outfit who was arrested last month has confessed to providing shelter to the late K-P senior minister Bashir Bilour’s attacker, the Counter-terrorism department (CTD) DIG Salahuddin told The Express Tribune on Friday.

The man, identified as Fazal Muhammad, was arrested by the police in another case. Speaking to the media, Salahuddin said that Muhammad had played a key role in Bilour’s assassination.

“Farooq Afridi, the suicide bomber who attacked the minister, stayed with Muhammad for two days,” the DIG said. “On the third day, Afridi was sent to target Bilour.”

A senior leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), Bilour was killed in a suicide attack which took place during a party meeting in the Dhaki Nalbandi neighbourhood of Peshawar on December 22, 2012. At least eight other people – including Bilour’s secretary and a police official – also lost their lives in the attack. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility for the incident.

According to the CTD official, Muhammad’s arrest is an important breakthrough in the case. “We have collaborated with other intelligence organisations and collected sufficient information regarding terrorism cases,” he said.

Moreover, Salahuddin said that the CTD is actively investigating terrorism cases and has arrested terrorists hailing from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan.

“We have arrested 11 militants who have confessed to their involvement in over 50 incidents of terrorism,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2015.