ISLAMABAD – The close relatives of the suicide bomber, who targetedelection rally in Mastung area of Balochistan in July, are undergoingtraining in Afghanistan for more attacks in Pakistan, it has emerged.
According to an intelligence notification obtained by think tank IslamicTheology of Counter Terrorism, Pakistani intelligence believes that familymembers of Hafeez Nawaz aka Abu Bakr al-Bakistani, the Islamic State (IS)suicide bomber who targeted the rally of Siraj Raisani and martyred 149people, are in Afghanistan with nefarious designs.
The report says the remaining family of Hafeez Nawaz is currently in anunknown location in Afghanistan at an ISKP training camp where they areplanning to carry out more suicide missions in Pakistan.
ITCT also revealed that the relatives include 56-year-old mother, BibiZareen Jan, 29-year-old brother Abdul Aziz Nawaz and 19-years-oldbrother Shakoor Nawaz of Hafeez Nawaz to be in Pakistan’s Westernneighboring state.
Maryam, Aisha, Samiya, and Safiya are four sisters of Hafeez Nawaz andtheir photos are not available
On 13th July 2018 during the election campaigning in Pakistan, a majorsuicide bombing claimed by Islamic State Khorasan (ISKP) group marred theelection process in the war-battered province of Balochistan. The suicidebombing targeted campaign rally of a pro-government politician SirajRaisani, who was left martyred in the attack.
Following the attack, Islamic State Khorasan (ISKP) group claimedresponsibility via the Amaq Agency, the official propaganda channel of IS.Amaq also released the image of the masked suicide bomber named Abu Bakral-Bakistani, whose facial features match those of Hafeez Nawaz, the manidentified by Pakistani authorities as the Pakistani citizen who carriedout the bombing. This confirms that Hafeez Nawaz and Abu Bakr al-Bakistaniare indeed the same person.
One of Hafeez Nawaz’s brothers and his father were arrested by Pakistan’sCounter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in August from Banaras area of Karachicity; his father is named Muhammad Nawaz and his arrested brother is namedHaq Nawaz.
During the initial probe, Muhammad Nawaz told police that his three sons(including Mastung bomber Hafeez Nawaz), his wife and four daughters hadmoved to Afghanistan on May 29. He told the police that initially his‘suicide bomber’ son was associated with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’sFazlullah group, but later on he joined ‘Daud Mehsud group’ and thenfinally he was recruited by Islamic State.
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BAP candidate Siraj Raisani among 149 martyred in Mastung suicide attacklink
Moreover, two other accomplices of Hafeez Nawaz were also arrested in thesame operation identified as Sheeraz alias Saifullah and Wali Ahmed aliasAbu Ubaid. Both were identified as members of Jaish al-Adl group, whichtargets Iranian interests and recently kidnapped a dozen Iranian borderguards from Iran-Pakistan border confirming the interlinkages between TTP,Jaish al-Adl and Islamic State.
The family of Hafeez Nawaz originally hailed from Molia village inAbbottabad but Hafeez Nawaz himself was a resident of Gharibabad Mohalla inDhabeji, Thatta.
He had studied at an Islamic seminary in Karachi city’s Shah Faisal Colonyfor three years where he drifted towards militancy; a few of his colleaguesat the seminary motivated him towards militancy and allegedly sent him toAfghanistan. Two of his Jaish al-Adl associates also studied there with him.
According to his father, his three daughters, who had been shifted toAfghanistan, were ‘Alima’ (religious scholars) and two of them had marriedIS militants there. His other two sons, Abdul Aziz and Abdul Shakoor, werealso living in Afghanistan and Shakoor recently told his father that now“it’s his turn” to become a suicide bomber.
Hafeez Nawaz’s father along with his son used to sell milk and vegetablesin the Dhabeji area.
As per the report of the think tank, the Pakistani intelligence said thefather of suicide bomber did not show any remorse or sadness on realizingthat his son had carried out a suicide attack in Mastung.
