Pakistan arrests Iran-backed Zainabiyoun militant accused of attack on top cleric

ISLAMABAD: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Pakistan’s Sindh province said on Saturday it had arrested a “trained terrorist” belonging to the Iran-backed Zainabiyoun Brigade in Karachi, who was accused of an assassination attempt on a top Pakistani cleric among other militant activities.
Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, a former Pakistan top court judge and a permanent member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s International Islamic Fiqh Academy, narrowly escaped the assassination attempt on him in the port city of Karachi in March 2019.
The attack had killed two of Mufti Usmani’s guards and wounded a fellow religious scholar, Maulana Amir Shahabullah, with police at the time calling it an apparent attempt to disrupt peace and stoke sectarian tensions in the South Asian country.
In its statement issued on Saturday, the CTD Sindh said it had arrested a “trained terrorist from a neighboring country” from Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar area, who had confessed to carrying out reconnaissance of “high value targets” and provide information regarding them to his accomplices, Syed Raza Jaffri and Abid Raza.
“Syed Muhammad Mehdi, a terrorist working for Hostile Intelligence Agencies (HIAs) and is linked to the Zainabiyoun Brigade, was arrested from Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar area,” the statement said.
“The suspect further disclosed that his accomplices, Syed Raza Jaffri and Abid Raza, had also been involved in the attack on Mufti Taqi Usmani and they have targeted several important figures who belonged to the opposite sect.”
Mehdi would keep weapons and explosives received from the HIAs at his home and provide hand grenades, weapons and ammunition when they were required to eliminate the targets, according to the CTD. He had also been involved in the sale and purchase of weapons.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is believed to have formed the Zainabiyoun Brigade, and based on material posted online and reviewed by Pakistani intelligence agencies, the group could have up to 1,000 fighters. Between 2019 and 2021, the Pakistan government said the Brigade was among outfits “found actively involved in terrorist activities” in the country.
Mehdi’s arrest comes at a time of heightened tensions between Pakistan and Iran, since Iran this week conducted drone and missile strikes inside Pakistan against what it said were militant bases.
Islamabad sharply reacted to the strikes, recalling its ambassador to Iran and barring the Iranian envoy from returning to Islamabad. On Thursday morning, Pakistan conducted tit-for-tat strikes against alleged militants in Iran’s southeast, killing nine.
Iran and Pakistan share a 900-kilometer (560-mile), largely lawless border where smugglers and militants roam freely. Both countries suspect each other of supporting, or at least behaving leniently, toward some of the groups operating on the other side of the border.
Late Friday, Pakistan’s top security body, after hours of deliberation, decided to restore diplomatic relations with Iran and said it would welcome all “positive measures” from Tehran.