Who Is Behind the Deadly Imambargah Suicide Bombing and Why Was It Carried Out?

ISLAMABAD: Defense Minister Khawaja Asif’s allegations against India and Afghanistan may prove to be completely futile, when all the circumstantial evidence related to Islamabad Imambargh suicide bombing point in the direction of ISIS-Khorasan as the force behind the deadly attack that claimed the lives of 31 worshipers.

While quoting security officials, Pakistani media outlets have reported that the nature and target of the attack indicate that it was ISIS-Khorasan which masterminded this deadly attack. It was ISIS and its Khorasan chapter that revived the deadly tradition, originally started by Pakistan’s sectarian-terrorist groups, of attacking Shia worshipers in Pakistan.

However Pakistani media reports indicate that suicide bomber, who has been identified as Yasir Khan, a resident of Peshawar, spent around five months receiving militant training at the Mansoor Istashhadi training centre in Kunar province, Afghanistan.

Intelligence reports indicate that technical training in the said training camp for suicide bombings is being provided by veteran Al-Qaeda leader Abu Ikhlas al-Masri is known to have re-established his unit in Kunar and has historically run training camps in the province. These facilities often operate under the broader protection of Haqqani Network, led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, which provides logistical support to TTP-affiliated cells.The name “Mansoor” likely honors Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, the second emir of the Taliban.

There was a time when TTP was collaborating with ISIS-Khorasan but then the two terrorist groups developed animosity towards each other. This seems to indicate an anomaly in the intelligence information published in Pakistani newspapers. While it is generally believed that it is ISIS-Khorasan which targets members of Shia community and their mosques and places of worship in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The other piece of information that suicide bomber underwent training in a training camp under the control of TTP seems to contradict the first piece of information. How can a suicide bomber who targeted Shia worshippers at the behest of ISIS-K, underwent training in the camp under the control of TTP, which is generally believed to be rival of ISIS-K.

Sources close to the investigation, as reported by The Express Tribune, indicated that while Khan was a Pakistani national, he had traveled to and from Afghanistan multiple times to coordinate the assault.

Although the investigation is ongoing, security officials cited by Dawn and other outlets have pointed toward the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) due to the nature and target of the attack.

The attacker’s identity was verified through fingerprint analysis cross-referenced with NADRA records.

Interior Ministry confirmed suicide attackers as Yasir Khan, age 32. He was a resident of Peshawar.

While no group has officially claimed responsibility, investigators suggest possible links to the banned outfit ISIS-Khorasan.

At the moment the situation is pretty confusing: if we believed Defense Minister Khawaja Asif’s allegations against the Afghan Taliban and India to be true, we have to understand that we have to ignore all the evidence which indicates ISIS-K to be the perpetrators of the attack. It is pertinent to mention here that Afghan Taliban’s state machinery is in full gear in their military campaign against ISIS-K.

But then we cannot ignore the intelligence information published by Pakistan media that the suicide bomber spent five months in a training camp being run by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. And this information makes TTP the main culprit of Islamabad Imam bargah suicide bombing.