ISLAMABAD – The mastermind and facilitator of the suicide blast at theshrine of Lal Shehbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif, Sindh, are close relativesof Lal Masjid’s Maulana Abdul Aziz, BBC Urdu quotedlink> Counter-Terrorism Department onSaturday.
Ghulam Mustafa Mazari and Safiullah Mazari were the mastermind andfacilitator of the attack, respectively.
The bomber was brought to Safiullah’s residence in village Abdullah byMustafa Mazari, where the bomber and Nadir Jhikrani had stayed.
Nadir Jhakarani along with Safiullah had taken the suicide bomber toSehwan, and after the blast, Nadir and Safiullah came back to thevillage. Nadir Jhakrani told the CTD that Mustafa had provided the suicidevest one day before the attack.
Nadir, a resident of Kashmore, was influenced by Mustafa’s extremist viewsand he started making visits to his house where he got acquainted with thesons of Rasheed Ghazi, Haroon and Haris, through Mustafa.
Later on, Ghulam Mustafa was killed in an army operation in Mastung,Balochistan, while the CTD has been making efforts to arrest Safiullah,which it feared has fled to Afghanistan. The department also said that theculprit might belong to the IS.
On 16 February 2017, a suicide bombing took place inside the shrine, wherepilgrims were performing a Sufi ritual after the evening prayers. At least90 people were killed and over 300 injured. The blast was claimed by theIslamic State.