Three Kocha Risaldar blast suspects killed in CTD operation

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Counter Terrorism Department has said it has killed three main facilitators of the Kocha Risaldar suicide bombing in a joint operation near the Khyber border Tuesday night.

According to the CTD spokesperson, the suspects, two of whom have been identified as Abdul Wajid alia Ghazi Usman and Muzaffar Shah alias Khalid Kocha, were involved in the killing of a police ASI Satnam Singh.

“They belonged to the banned Islamic State – Khorasan Province,”

The operation was conducted by the counter terrorism department, police and intelligence agencies on a tip-off from one of their sources. The officials have recovered weapons, hand grenades and other explosives from the terrorist hideout near the outskirts of Regi.

The CTD spokesperson added that the “terrorists were also involved in an attack on a police station and police personnel”.

The attacker first shot dead policemen guarding the imambargah and then entered the mosque to blow up his suicide vest. CCTV footage obtained from the site showed the attacker, clad in a black shalwar kameez, came in a rickshaw with two other men. However, the two other men did not accompany him to the mosque’s entrance.

Hours after the blast, the anti-shia Islamic State claimed responsibility of the attack.