ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday accused the government in Kabul and the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) militant group of jointly planning a Nov. 11 suicide bombing at Islamabad’s district court complex, saying the attack was orchestrated from Afghanistan and involved operatives trained and sheltered there.
The accusations came as the Afghan Taliban government said on Tuesday nine children and a woman were killed in overnight Pakistani airstrikes, vowing to respond, ratcheting up tensions between the South Asian neighbors. Pakistan has not responded to Kabul’s claim.
The tensions follow a surge in attacks in Pakistan that Islamabad blames on militants, particularly from the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) group, which it says are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies this.
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad on Tuesday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar detailed arrests, travel routes and a recorded confession by the alleged handler of this month’s attack on the district court in Islamabad’s G-11 area. He said four men were arrested by Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau and Counter Terrorism Department within 48 hours of the bombing.
“This is clear evidence, TTA [Afghan Taliban] and TTP did this together,” Tarar said, adding that the suicide bomber and key planners had moved repeatedly between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the months before the attack.
