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ISLAMABAD: Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday said the November 11 suicide attack near the Islamabad district courts was planned and directed from Afghanistan, adding that security agencies arrested the key suspects within 48 hours.&nbsp;Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the minister said the attacker failed to reach his intended high-security target. &ldquo;The suicide bomber could not enter the main area and detonated on the outskirts of the city,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;Tarar said the Intelligence Bureau and the Counter Terrorism Department acted immediately after the blast and arrested four suspects, Sajidullah alias Sheena, Kamran Khan, Muhammad Zali and Shah Munir.&nbsp;According to the minister, Sajidullah alias Sheena is the central handler who brought the bomber and the explosive vest. He previously joined the Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan and received training at camps inside Afghanistan.&nbsp;Tarar said the plot was overseen by TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud through his commander Dadullah, who remains based in Afghanistan. Sajidullah travelled to Afghanistan as recently as August 2025 and stayed in contact with Dadullah through a secure application.&nbsp;After returning to Pakistan, Sajidullah met the suicide bomber, identified as Usman Shinwari, a resident of Nangarhar, and provided him with the explosive vest. &ldquo;Their target was Rawalpindi and Islamabad, but the terrorists failed to reach their objective,&rdquo; the minister said.&nbsp;He added that all arrested suspects played a role in facilitating the attack, and the network&rsquo;s links lead back across the border. A recorded confessional statement of Sajidullah was also shown during the briefing.&nbsp;Tarar praised the swift action of the Intelligence Bureau, CTD, and security forces, calling the arrests a &ldquo;major success&rdquo; that prevented a much larger tragedy. He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has commended the agencies and reaffirmed the government&rsquo;s commitment to protecting citizens.&nbsp;&ldquo;The armed forces, under the leadership of Field Marshal Asim Munir, remain fully mobilized,&rdquo; the minister said, adding that the breakthrough will significantly support ongoing counterterrorism efforts.

Security

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says the plot was overseen by TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud through his commander Dadullah, who remains based in Afghanistan.

Islamabad courts attacker was Afghan, plan hatched in Afghanistan, says Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday that Islamabad had presented &lsquo;concrete evidence&rsquo; of attacks from Afghan soil to Kabul in recent talks. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; He was responding to concerns expressed by opposition lawmakers in the Senate of Pakistan. FM Dar said that recent dialogues with the interim Afghan government, held in T&uuml;rkiye and Qatar, focused on engaging Afghan authorities to curb cross-border terrorism. He said that groups such as Fitna al-Khawarij (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) and the Balochistan Liberation Army were operating from Afghan soil and conducting terrorist activities against Pakistan. Combating terrorism&nbsp;The foreign minister reaffirmed Pakistan&rsquo;s commitment to combating terrorism, urging the interim Afghan government to ensure its territory is not used for hostile activities against Pakistan. Speaking in the Senate, he said that incidents of terrorism have increased even more than in 2012. Agreements made with Afghan Taliban previously, too&ldquo;[Yesterday] Mr Muttaqi called us six times. I told him we want only one thing from you: that your soil should not be used against Pakistan,&rdquo; said the foreign minister. &ldquo;[I told him that] the government has taken a decision, and we will fight [terrorism] to the last breath.&rdquo; Dar said that till 2018, because of Pakistan&#39;s security forces&#39; operations, terrorist attacks in the country had gone down considerably. He said that after the Afghan Taliban came to power, for four years, there were no formal engagements between the two countries. &ldquo;I went to Afghanistan, talked with them, and made agreements.&rdquo; The foreign minister said he asked only one thing of them: that Afghanistan&rsquo;s territory not be used against Pakistan. Dar said that an effort was made to start a train service from Afghanistan to other countries. Unfortunately, with the current government in Afghanistan, violent incidents have increased daily, affecting plans for such a project. Releasing terrorists from prison a mistakeThe foreign minister said that 40,000 TTP members came to Pakistan from Afghanistan, and that the government at that time released more than 100 hardcore terrorists from prisons. Such mistakes, he said, should never have been made. He said that a few years ago, there were 38,000 religious seminaries, and now there are 150,000. He expressed hope that talks between the two sides in Istanbul on Nov. 6 will advance. Trump&rsquo;s active role during Pak-India conflictDar said that US President Donald Trump played an active role during the Pak-India conflict from May 6 to 10, and that the UAE, the UK, and Qatar maintained extensive contact during that period. India had launched 80 drones against Pakistan; the army neutralized 79 of them, while one caused minor damage to military installations, he said. The foreign minister said that India&rsquo;s attempt to construct a false narrative was exposed. The operation against India began at 4 a.m. and ended at 8 a.m. At 8:17 a.m., he said, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called to say that India was ready for a ceasefire. Dar said that the letter recommending President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize was written on June 11. &quot;The role played by the United States was acknowledged through that letter, which was sent under my signature,&quot; he said.&nbsp;The letter will be considered next year, as nominations for the Nobel Prize are accepted till January, he added.

Foreign Affairs

Speaking in the Senate, he said that terrorist groups were operating from Afghan soil and conducting terrorist activities against Pakistan. 

Kabul was presented 'concrete evidence' of Afghan-based attacks: Pakistan foreign minister

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected a statement attributed to the Afghan Taliban spokesperson regarding the Istanbul talks, which seeks to deliberately distort the facts.&nbsp;In a post on X, Afghan news agency Ariana News quoted spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, saying that during the Istanbul talks, Afghanistan &ldquo;was willing to deport people Islamabad considers a security threat,&rdquo; but Pakistan did not accept the offer.&nbsp;Rejecting the claim, the Ministry of Information &amp; Broadcasting stated in a post on X:&nbsp;&ldquo;When the Afghan side said that they were Pakistani nationals, Pakistan immediately proposed that they be handed over through designated border posts, consistent with Pakistan&rsquo;s long-standing position,&rdquo; adding that any claim to the contrary is false and misleading. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1984625202018599161&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F1879%2F&sessionId=67b5d76852f4a487cd242e7b1cf53b4e40416903&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 873px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div>Pakistan also strongly rejected statements by the Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in an interview with a TV channel on Saturday, regarding the recent Istanbul talks between delegations from both countries. The spokesperson had accused Pakistan of undermining ties and accused it of conducting airstrikes on Afghan soil. Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, responding to Mujahid&rsquo;s allegations, issued a categorical statement on X dismissing the claims. &ldquo;There exists complete unanimity of views among all Pakistanis, including the country&rsquo;s political and military leadership, regarding Pakistan&rsquo;s security policies and its comprehensive approach toward Afghanistan,&rdquo; he said. He added that the people of Pakistan, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are fully aware of the treacherous and barbaric patronization of Indian-sponsored terrorism by the Afghan Taliban regime. &ldquo;They harbor no illusions about its intent or conduct,&rdquo; he noted. The minister described the Taliban&rsquo;s narrative as an attempt to deflect attention from its own failures. &ldquo;It is the non-representative Afghan Taliban regime that suffers from deep internal factionalism and is responsible for the continued oppression of Afghan ethnicities, women, children, and minorities,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Even after four years in power, the regime has failed to fulfill its promises to the international community.&rdquo; He said Pakistan&rsquo;s policy remains consistent and focused on regional peace. &ldquo;Pakistan&rsquo;s policy to protect its citizens from cross-border terrorism and the perverted ideology of Khawarij remains unified, unwavering, and firmly anchored in national interest as well as in the pursuit of regional stability,&rdquo; he emphasized.

Information Ministry says, consistent with its long-standing position, Pakistan demands that terrorists in Afghanistan posing a threat be controlled or arrested.

Articles tagged with "cross-border terrorism"

Islamabad courts attacker was Afghan, plan hatched in Afghanistan, says Pakistan

Kabul was presented 'concrete evidence' of Afghan-based attacks: Pakistan foreign minister

Pakistan denies Taliban claim of refused deportation deal at Istanbul talks