The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Security forces arrested four alleged facilitators of the Islamabad Imambargah suicide attack during overnight raids in Peshawar and Nowshera, authorities said Saturday. A police officer was killed and three other security personnel were injured during the operations.
Among those detained is the suspected Afghan mastermind, who
officials say is linked to the banned Islamic State group.
The raids were carried out on the basis of technical and
human intelligence as part of the ongoing investigation into the bombing that
struck a Friday congregation at Imambargah Qasr-i-Khadijatul Kubra on the
outskirts of Islamabad. The attack killed at least 36 people and injured dozens
more.
“Intelligence and law enforcement agencies conducted raids
and made arrests in Peshawar and Nowshera,” security officials confirmed.
Raid in Nowshera
Police officials said the Nowshera raid took place in the
Hakeemabad area late Friday night. Acting on leads about possible facilitators,
law enforcement personnel came under fire from suspected militants.
“An exchange of fire took place. An assistant sub-inspector
was martyred and a constable sustained injuries in the crossfire,” a Nowshera
police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official added
that the raid was part of a multi-agency operation and not limited to local
police.
Authorities declined to provide further details, citing the
ongoing investigation.
The bombing was the deadliest attack in the capital since
September 2008, when a suicide truck bomb devastated the Marriott Hotel and
killed 60 people. It also comes less than three months after a suicide blast
outside a district and sessions court in Islamabad’s G-11 sector on Nov. 11,
2025, which killed 12 people and injured more than 30.
