QUETTA – Security forces on Friday killed the mastermind of the country’sworst-ever suicide bombing in an early morning shootout in Balochistan,officials said.The operation was carried out on an intelligence tip offabout the presence of an Islamic State (IS) operative identified asHidayatullah in a house in the Darenjo village of Qalat district.
“The Frontier Corps (FC) raided the house and killed Hidayatullah after astrong resistance from him,” Qaisar Khan, a senior administration officialin Qalat, told AFP. A senior FC official, speaking on condition ofanonymity, stated that Hidayatullah was the facilitator of Hafeez Nawaz,who carried out the suicide bombing last week which killed at least 150people. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack at anelection rally in Mastung district.
The provincial authorities identified the bomber as Nawaz, a Pakistaninational who fought in Afghanistan before carrying out the suicide attackin Mastung. A senior administration official in Mastung Qaim Lashari alsoconfirmed the Qalat raid.
“Hidayatullah led a group of IS operatives present in different areas ofBalochistan, and we hope to track them down pretty soon,” the officialadded. The news of Hidayatullah’s death coincided with a small explosion inChaman, which wounded four people. – APP/AFP