Pakistan says captured Islamic State bomber before planned Easter attack

Record ID: 645435

  • Title: Pakistan says captured Islamic State bomber before planned Easter attack
  • Date: 17th April 2017
  • Summary: RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN (APRIL 17, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DIRECTOR GENERAL INTER-SERVICES PUBLIC RELATIONS (ISPR), MAJOR GENERAL ASIF GHAFOOR, AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) DIRECTOR GENERAL INTER-SERVICES PUBLIC RELATIONS (ISPR), MAJOR GENERAL ASIF GHAFOOR, SAYING: "A girl went missing from Hyderabad; then her message appeared on Facebook saying that she had joined Daesh (Islamic State). Her parents appealed to the army chief to recover their daughter and deal with those who were responsible. The army chief gave special instructions to the DG of MI (Director General of Military Intelligence) that the girl was our daughter, a daughter of the nation, and it was our responsibility to recover her. MI (Military Intelligence) worked very hard on that, and on April 14, during a military operation in Lahore, she was recovered. I am going to make you listen to her message after she was arrested." VARIOUS OF MILITARY OFFICER STANDING AT NEWS CONFERENCE
  • 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: LVA0016CSEYX3
  • 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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