Inspector General (IG) of Balochistan Police, Muazim Jah Ansari, has claimed that the suicide attacker, who killed Siraj Raisani and 148 others has been identified.
Last week a suicide bomber had detonated his explosives at an election rally of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) in the southwestern town of Dringarh near Mastung, about 35km south of the provincial capital Quetta.
IG Balochistan told a Senate Committee that the suicide attacker of Mastung attack was identified as Hafeez Nawaz, who hailed from Mirpur, Sakkro.
Mr. Ansari said that Hafeez Nawaz joined an extremist Islamist group in Sindh province. He was first affiliated with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi but later became a member of international terrorist group, ISIS.
He added that ISIS was behind the attack and security forces have identified its facilitators in Balochistan.
‘Two persons identified as Mufti haidar and Hafiz Naeem are the commanders of ISIS in Balochistan,’ Mr. Ansari claimed.
He said attempts are being made to arrest ISIS members in Balochistan.
He added that after Aghanistan, ISIS is making roads into Balochistan.
However, Baloch political groups blame Pakistani security forces of backing religious extremists in Balochistan.
‘They use these religious extremists against Baloch activists and then dispose them off once they are deemed no more useful. Siraj, once an asset to Pakistani Military, was killed by other assets – the Islami State,’ a senior member of a Baloch political party told The Balochistan Post.