Mastermind behind Deadly Peshawar Mosque Attack Killed
The Counter-Terrorism Department launched an intelligence-based operation to haunt the perpetrators and managed to kill Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) commander Hassan Shah along with a would-be suicide bomber in a raid early on Saturday morning in the Wali Abad area of Pishtakhara.
Pakistani Dawn outlet quoted an unnamed official as saying that the terrorists were planning to hit a church in the provincial capital.
Hassan Shah was among the two handlers of the suicide bomber, who had blown himself up among the worshippers in Koocha Risaldar mosque, killing over 60 and injuring scores of others.
According to the intelligence data, the terrorist commander had escaped to Karachi after the attack in early March 2022. However, he was again called to the province to carry out other strikes, reports suggest.
Two other people have been arrested on the scene, Pakistani media say.
“We have retrieved a treasure trove of information and evidence from the scene, which sheds light on terrorist network and its links,” the official said, Dawn reported.
Three other terrorists involved in the deadly suicide blast were killed by security forces on March 8.
More than 60 people were killed after a suicide attacker blew himself up inside Kuch-e-Risaldar mosque in Qissa Khawani bazaar of Peshawar.
