The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Al Jazeera reported Thursday that
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told parliament both suicide bombers
who carried out recent attacks in Islamabad and South Waziristan were Afghan
nationals, as authorities announced multiple arrests in connection with the
incidents.
Naqvi made the remarks during a televised parliamentary
session, following a deadly blast on Wednesday at the Islamabad District
Judicial Complex, which killed at least 12 people and injured more than 30
others, several critically. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Punjab’s
Rawalpindi said seven suspects were arrested from Fauji Colony and Dhoke
Kashmirian, while additional raids were carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Another suicide bombing occurred on Monday at Cadet College
in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, when an explosive-laden vehicle
struck the main gate. Two attackers were killed instantly, while three others
managed to enter the compound, police said.
Tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban-led government in
Kabul have escalated in recent months, with Islamabad accusing Afghan-based
militants of carrying out cross-border attacks — allegations the Taliban deny.
The situation worsened last month after deadly border clashes that left both
soldiers and civilians dead.
Following the recent attacks, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja
Asif warned that Islamabad might launch strikes inside Afghanistan, declaring
that the country was “in a state of war.”
In a separate development, Pakistan’s parliament on Thursday
passed a constitutional amendment granting lifetime immunity to the current army
chief, Asim Munir, recently promoted to field marshal. The amendment
consolidates military power under a new Chief of Defense Forces role and
establishes a Federal Constitutional Court, a move widely criticized by
opposition parties as an attempt to further entrench military dominance in the
country’s politics.
