Daily Times

QUETTA: Security forces Monday killed mastermind of Quetta Civil Hospital attack during an operation in Pishin district of the province, said Balochistan’s Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti.

“Jehangir Badini, mastermind behind the Quetta carnage, and four other high profile militants were killed during the operation,” said Bugti while talking to media at a press conference in the provincial capital. The militants were involved in a series of terrorist acts, including the attack at Hazara women and the murder of Barrister Amanullah Achakzai, the principal of University of Balochistan’s law college. “So far three of the five terrorists have been identified,” the home minister said. Balochistan Police Chief Ahsan Mehboob and other high-ups also flanked him during the press conference. Security forces recovered 30 to 40 kilogrammes of explosives, four suicide jackets and other weapons from the militants,” said Bugti. One suspect was detained during the operation and was being interrogated by security forces.

The home minister said that the suicide bomber, who exploded himself in the hospital in Quetta on August 8, was identified with the help of DNA tests. His name was Ahmed Ali and he was a resident of Quetta, he added. Ali had targeted the emergency services ward at Quetta’s Civil Hospital, killing at least 70 people and leaving scores injured. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) splinter group, had claimed responsibility for the bombing, which occurred at the gates of the building housing the emergency ward. The bomber struck as more than 100 mourners, mostly lawyers and journalists, crowded the Emergency Department of the hospital to accompany the body of Advocate Bilal Anwar Kasi, who was killed earlier that day. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has lauded the performance of the intelligence agencies.