Pakistan says captured Islamic State bomber before planned Easter attack

Record ID: 645434

  • Title: Pakistan says captured Islamic State bomber before planned Easter attack
  • Date: 17th April 2017
  • Summary: RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN (APRIL 17, 2017) (REUTERS) AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu and English) DIRECTOR GENERAL INTER-SERVICES PUBLIC RELATIONS (ISPR), MAJOR GENERAL ASIF GHAFOOR, SAYING: "The spokesperson of outlawed organisation Jamaat ur Ahrar (a faction of the Islamist militant Pakistani Taliban group) and TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella group fighting to impose strict Islamic law in Pakistan) Ehsanullah Ehsan, has turned himself in to the security forces. And (ENGLISH) he is not the only one. (URDU) In the coming days we will share more such information with you. This is an indicator of the success of our sacrifices rendered as a nation in the past 15 years."
  • Embargoed: 1st May 2017 16:58
  • Keywords: Islamic State church attack female suicide bomber Lahore
  • Location: RAWALPINDI AND IDENTIFIED LOCATION, PAKISTAN
  • City: RAWALPINDI AND IDENTIFIED LOCATION, PAKISTAN
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0036CSEYX3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Pakistan's military captured a would-be Islamic State female suicide bomber in the cultural capital of Lahore before she could carry out an attack on the Christian community during Easter celebrations, the army's chief spokesman said on Monday (April 17).
    The military identified the woman as Noreen Leghari, a medical student who grew up in the southern city of Hyderabad.
    Part of a video confession by the woman was shown at a news briefing. In it, she said she was part of a planned attack on an unnamed church on Easter, and had travelled from Hyderabad to Lahore and was working with two other men.
    The director General of the Army's public relations wing, Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, showed the video as part of an update on a military operation against jihadist militants, launched after a series of attacks in February including the bombing of a Sufi shrine that was claimed by Islamic State.
    One of the biggest successes announced so far was the surrender of Pakistani Taliban offshoot Jamaat ur Ahrar spokesman and leader Ehsanullah Ehsan. Jamaat ur Ahrar had carried out numerous big attacks since rising to prominence in 2015, including a bombing last Easter in Lahore that killed 70 people.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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