Pakistani jihadist outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its faction Jamaat-ul-Ahraar (JuA) are planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting political leaders, members of armed forces and its spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), including Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chief Organizer Maryam Nawaz. These jihadist groups also are aiming to target government officials as well as Pakistani diplomats in foreign countries. Furthermore, they also plan to carry out attacks on vehicles and check posts of law enforcement agencies.
According to Geo TV, a terror group — which includes two suicide bombers — has entered Punjab under the supervision of Jamaat-ul-Ahraar (JuA) kingpin Rafiullah.
Separately, TTP commander Sarbakaf Mohmand praised those who participated in the countrywide riots on May 9, following the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, and announced his support for the miscreants.
The latest information comes hours after Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Sirajul Haq narrowly escaped a suicide attacks on his convoy as he was travelling to a rally in Balochistan’s Zhob.
Terrorism incidents have risen in Pakistan in recent months, with security forces ramping up operations to defeat terrorists. The Pakistan Centre for Research and Security Studies said that more than 850 people were killed or injured in militant attacks and counterterrorism operations in the first quarter of 2023. This is half the total number of killed or wounded people in 2022, the report pointed out.
“The fatalities of security and government officials almost doubled, from 88 in the first quarter of last year to 167 in the first quarter this year. The fatalities of security and government officials almost doubled, from 88 in the first quarter of last year to 167 in the first quarter this year”, the report said.
It shared that the TTP carried out at least 22 attacks during January-March, causing at least 107 deaths.
Jihadist disciples of Imran Khan’s wife
According to a credible intelligence source, hundreds of disciples of Imran Khan’s third wife Bushra Bibi Khan alias Pinki Pirni are directly connected to various terrorist and militancy outfits including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jamaat-ul-Ahraar (JuA), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Haqqani Network.
Bushra Bibi was born to a conservative, politically influential family from central Punjab. She belongs to the Wattoo clan, a landowning JaT group, of whom the Manekas are a sub-clan. She originates from the town of Pakpattan, located 250 km southwest of Lahore.
Before her marriage to Khan, Bushra Bibi was married to Khawar Maneka. Khawar Maneka was a senior Customs official and a son of Ghulam Muhammad Maneka, a former federal minister in Benazir Bhutto’s cabinet. His brother Ahmad Raza Maneka is currently a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, and is affiliated with the PML-N. They divorced in 2017.
Bushra has been described as an introvert who prefers to stay at home rather than attending social functions and gatherings very frequently, to which Khan admittedly has no objections, as he himself is “past the age of socializing”.
Bushra Khan, the wife of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, is facing corruption charges in the same case that led to his arrest on May 9. On Monday, he accompanied her to a court that granted her protective bail.
Pakistanis who admire Bushra’s devotion to the saint call her a spiritual leader while Khan’s opponents accuse her of practicing sorcery, a claim Khan’s aides have repeatedly denied.
Members of Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, have said Bushra inspired Khan to set up Al-Qadir Trust, a non-governmental welfare organization that runs a university outside Islamabad devoted to spirituality and Islamic teachings.
The trust is part of the corruption charges levied against the couple. While prime minister, Khan promoted the trust at official events, and the couple are the sole trustees, according to Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.
