Capital attacks mastermind arrested

ISLAMABAD - Police have arrested the suspected mastermind of deadly attacks on security forces in the capital, who was also involved in brainwashing innocent students of religious seminaries of Islamabad and sending them to Waziristan for training as suicide bombers. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tahir Aalam Khan told the media persons during a press conference here on Monday that the accused namely Fidaullah was wanted for taking the seminaries youth of the capital to Waziristan for training in the name of Jihad. He said that the accused had confessed during the interrogation that he had also set up a network, Ghazi Force, for training terrorists with the support of Taliban militants namely Niaz Rahim, Habibullah, Ajmal and others in the area of Guljo, Buner. The SSP said that Fidaullah alias Abdul Rehman Junaid son of Fazal Hadi was a resident of village Swari, Buner, and had also been a student of a local seminary. He said that police found the clue of the said terrorist during the interrogation of two other arrested accused namely Khairullah and Khuram Shezad in connection with the suicide attacks on FC Camp and Special Branch Office in Islamabad. Both the arrested accused disclosed during interrogation that accused Fidaullah was involved in both the suicide attacks. Police started hunt for Fidaullah but he fled to Buner district where troops were battling Taliban militants, Tahir Aalam khan said. Eight security officials were killed in the April 4 attack on a camp of paramilitary soldiers deployed to protect diplomats in Islamabad. Days earlier, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a special police branch in Islamabad, killing a guard at the gate, on March 23. Fidaullah was also involved in the beheading of three local men in Buner after accusing them of spying for security forces, he said. The SSP said that the accused had also brainwashed a minor student, Ahmad, of a local seminary here at Golra Sharif and mentally prepared him for a suicide attack and sent him for training in tribal area. Fidaullah had hatched a plot to kidnap a foreign dignitary from Islamabad that was foiled by his arrest, the police chief said. He said that the arrest of the accused had also disclosed some other names involved in terrorist activities and police were trying to arrest those people. The SSP also informed that security officials would soon establish a 'Citizen Security Committee that would consist of a liaison officer and youth of the area. He added that the committee would keep an vigilant eye on its area. Talking about the Urs celebrations of Hazrat Bari Imam, the SSP said that special security arrangements were being made in that regard and 25 walk-through gates would be installed at the entrance and exit points. He told that the road leading to the tomb of Hazrat Bari Imam via red zone area would be blocked and 3rd Avenue would be used to reach the tomb. He added that a parking would be established away from the tomb from where free shuttle service would be provided to the pilgrimages to reach the tomb.

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