Karachi: Pakistani authorities on Monday said they averted a major suicide attack in Karachi, rescuing the intended bomber, a young female student before she could be used in the plot.
At a press conference, Sindh’s provincial home minister Zia ul Hasan Lanjhar said the girl was rescued while travelling to Karachi from Quetta on a passenger bus with a handler from the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
“At a check post on 25th December, acting on prior intelligence reports, when the girl was questioned, she got nervous and pointed towards her handler, who had disappeared from the scene,” Hasan said.
“She was being prepared to carry out a suicide attack in Karachi, that is all we can say now,” the minister said.
The girl was subjected to exploitation by the handler, and during debriefing, shared all details of being approached by the BLA handler through social media.
“Even the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Front are doing the same,” Hasan said, referring to the use of young girls to carry out terror attacks.
The girl and her mother, who appeared at the press conference, were not identified, and their faces were covered under a veil.
There have been at least three recorded incidents of the BLA using women as suicide bombers or handlers in carrying out terror attacks.
