Bannu – As a major development that followed the fatal attack on the Bannu FC Lines, Pakistani authorities have confirmed that a second suicide bomber was an Afghan national.
The second perpetrator in the attack, named Mullah Shabir Ahmad, alias Mawlvi Bilal Muhajir, was the resident of the village of Abdul Muhiyuddin in the Saeedabad District of Wardak Province, Afghanistan.
A security operation was orchestrated after a deadly suicide attack by militants on the FC Line in Bannu on Tuesday. The attack started when militants drove an explosive-carrying vehicle into the FC Line building, which resulted in a strong explosion destroying nearby shops and buildings. As a result of the attack, six security personnel and six militants were killed.
Earlier, one of the suicide bombers was also identified to be an Afghan national. The man, Abdul Aziz alias Qassid Mohajir, was a native of the Mata Khan district of the Paktika province of Afghanistan.
Interestingly, he had earlier sent a video message when he was in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, where he was filmed asking for the help of the TTP to carry out a suicide attack within Pakistan.
Increasing Cross-Border Tensions
The capture of the second bomber strengthens the Pakistani stand that the interim Afghan government is not doing enough to ensure that militants are not acting on its territory. In the past, similar attacks have been attributed to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, which is a part of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP).
Pakistan has, through official announcements by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned the Afghan diplomats on several occasions to register their serious grievances and to demand that bold, vigorous, and decisive action be taken against the culprits.
The attack on the Bannu Cantonment is among the series of lethal attacks that Pakistan says are being masterminded by terrorist groups that act on land in Afghanistan.
Although the Afghan authorities have refuted these allegations, a United Nations report once termed the TTP as a very serious terrorist organization that is active in Afghanistan and even employs Afghans to carry out its acts.
This continued conflict has worsened already frayed diplomatic ties between the two nations and has been one of the key areas of interest in bilateral talks.
