Overview
- Security forces detained the suspect, identified as Hikmatullah alias Hamza, during an intelligence-based operation in Tirah Valley that took place on November 7.
- Officials say he is a former Afghan National Army recruit who received three months of military training and three months of commando training before joining militant networks.
- Authorities presented a video statement attributed to the suspect and said interrogation has already revealed facilitators in Pakistan and Afghanistan, specific training locations and planned attack sites.
- Police allege he trained a suicide attacker named Akrama at the Khalid bin Waleed madrassa near Jalalabad and had links to the banned Gul Bahadur group and its commander Mansoor.
- The arrest comes as independent data and UN monitoring show a sharp rise in cross-border militant activity since 2022, increasing security operations, proposed anti-drone measures and diplomatic tensions with Afghan authorities.