The attacker was in Afghanistan for about five months before returning to Pakistan.
Security officers stand guard outside a mosque after an explosion, in Islamabad, February 6, 2026. Photo: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
As investigators piece together the trail behind the deadly suicide bombing at Imambargah Khadijah al-Kubra in Islamabad, authorities have identified the attacker as a Peshawar resident who received training in Afghanistan, shedding new light on the cross-border origins of terror in the country.
According to preliminary information shared by sources close to the investigation, the attacker, identified as Yasir Khan Yasir, had remained in Afghanistan for approximately five months before returning to Pakistan.
Investigators are also looking into possible links between the attacker and the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), while cautioning that investigations remain ongoing at this stage.
Yasir Khan, rather favorable to the Salafist school of thought, would have received militant training during his stay in Afghanistan. “He received training at the Mansoor Istashhadi training center in Afghanistan’s northeastern Kunar province and traveled to and from the country several times,” sources told The Express PK Press Club.
Authorities said efforts were underway to uncover the entire network behind the attack, including identifying facilitators, handlers and any domestic or cross-border connections that may have enabled the operation.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry also confirmed that the suicide bomber had been identified. “He is not an Afghan citizen, but forensic examination of the remaining parts of his body provided information on the number of times he visited Afghanistan,” he added.
State broadcaster PTV News, in a report on social media platform
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif echoed the claims, blaming what he described as an “India-Afghan nexus” for the imambargah carnage. In an article on X, he said it had been established that the attacker had traveled to and from Afghanistan and evidence was emerging of links between India and the Taliban.
He called the perpetrators “enemies of both religion and the nation” and promised that the state would respond to the attack with full force.
Referring to the May 2025 military confrontation between Pakistan and India, he wrote that after a humiliating defeat, India was now fighting by proxy and no longer had the courage to engage in a direct war.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said the suicide bomber had been identified. “He is not an Afghan citizen, but forensic examination of the remaining parts of his body provided information on the number of times he traveled to Afghanistan,” he said.
Addressing the broader pattern of terrorism across the country, Chaudhry said, “There is a consistent pattern in these attacks: on one hand, terrorism is carried out in the name of religion by individuals, while on the other, groups such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) engage in violence based on ethnicity and provincialism.”
Talal Chaudhry called the perpetrators of the recent terror attacks “cowards” who deliberately target weak spots such as markets, schools, mosques, imambargahs, banks and other facilities meant for ordinary citizens.
He also reaffirmed that the implementation of the National Action Plan continued without compromise. “This is a war that we are determined to win, and we are winning. That’s why they are focusing on soft targets rather than hard targets,” he said.
