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The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has arrested over ten "terrorists" and their facilitators involved in last week's attack on Chinese engineers, Geo News reported on Monday.
The news outlet citing sources said that a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-affiliated outfits is believed to be involved in the March 26 deadly attack in Shangla's Bisham city According to Geo News, five Chinese citizens, including a woman, and a Pakistani driver were killed when a suicide bomber crashed his explosive-laden vehicle into the car carrying them. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari, and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir condemned the heinous act, promising to hold the perpetrators accountable. A solemn wreath-laying ceremony at Rawalpindi's Nur Khan Airbase paid tribute to the victims, with a 30-second silence observed as their bodies were airlifted back to China, as per Geo News. Floral wreaths were laid on behalf of the country's president, prime minister, army chief, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza. In the aftermath of the attack, Chinese companies overseeing operations at the sites of the Dasu and Diamer-Bhasha Dams, temporarily suspended the civil work at both sites owing to security concerns. An official involved in the projects confirmed to the publication that approximately 991 Chinese engineers were engaged in both projects. Meanwhile, local staff members have been instructed to remain at home until further notice. A Chinese investigative team arrived in Pakistan last week to probe the incident, following China's military expressing readiness to collaborate with Pakistan in bolstering their collective capacity to address security threats, including terrorist attacks. "The terrorist commander, responsible for bringing the suicide bomber to Pakistan from Afghanistan, has also been arrested, as have four other facilitators," as per the CTD sources. Furthermore, the investigation has revealed that the explosive-laden vehicle used in the deadly attack was prepared in Afghanistan and was subsequently transported to Dera Ismail Khan's Darazinda via the Pak-Afghan Chaman border crossing in Balochistan. From there, the vehicle was transported to Chakdara in Lower Dir via a smuggler of non-custom paid vehicles, for which the driver was paid Pakistani currency (PKR) 250,000. However, security forces have also arrested the facilitator responsible for transporting the vehicle from Chaman to Chakdara. "The car was then brought to the incident site on the day of the attack after being parked for 10 days at the cost of PKR 500 per day," as per the investigation team sources. The mastermind of the attack, Hazrat Bilal, is also wanted by the security forces for his involvement in the Dasu dam attack, the sources added. With two accomplices of the suicide bomber already in custody, CTD expects that it will soon arrest Bilal as well. The arrests, as per the CTD sources, have been made by utilising the mobile and SIM data of the suicide bomber, which he had procured through a third party. (ANI)
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