Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said both suicide bombers involved in the two attacks in the country this week were Afghan nationals, as authorities announced having made several arrests.
Naqvi made the remarks in parliament on Thursday during a session carried live on television.
On Wednesday, at least 12 people were killed and more than 30 were injured, several of them critically, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Islamabad District Judicial Complex.
The Counter-Terrorism Department in Punjab province’s Rawalpindi said seven suspects were detained in connection with the Islamabad blast. The alleged perpetrators were apprehended from Rawalpindi’s Fauji Colony and Dhoke Kashmirian, the Dawn daily reported, while a raid was also conducted in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
Firefighter douses a vehicle after a blast outside a court building in Islamabad [Reuters]
The other suicide attack took place on Monday at a college in South Waziristan, KP.
Cadet College, which is near the Afghan border, came under attack when an explosive-laden vehicle rammed its main gate. Two attackers were killed at the main gate, while three others managed to enter, according to police.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been severely strained in recent years, with Islamabad accusing fighters sheltering across the border of staging attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies giving haven to armed groups to attack Pakistan.
Dozens of soldiers were killed in border clashes between the two countries last month, as well as several civilians.
On Tuesday, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan may launch strikes inside Afghanistan following the attacks this week, saying the country was “in a state of war”.
“Anyone who thinks that the Pakistan Army is fighting this war in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and the remote areas of Balochistan should take today’s suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts as a wake-up call,” he said.
Pakistan passes bill giving army chief immunity for life
In a separate development on Thursday, Pakistan’s parliament approved a sweeping constitutional amendment, granting lifetime immunity to the current army chief, boosting the military’s power, which was previously reserved only for the head of state, despite widespread criticism from opposition parties and critics.
The 27th amendment, passed by a two-thirds majority, also consolidates military power under a new chief of defence forces role and establishes a Federal Constitutional Court.
The changes grant army chief Asim Munir, recently promoted to field marshal after Pakistan’s clash with India in May, command over the army, air force and the navy.
Munir, like other top military brass, would enjoy lifelong protection.
Any officer promoted to field marshal, marshal of the air force, or admiral of the fleet will now retain rank and privileges for life, remain in uniform, and enjoy immunity from criminal proceedings.
The amendment also bars courts from questioning any constitutional change “on any ground whatsoever”.
