Plot to assassinate Pakistani President foiled

Islamabad(IRNA) – A plot to assassinate Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad has been foiled and the police have arrested several men assigned to strike, police have said.

 

An attack was planned on the President in Islamabad’s main hospital where he was scheduled to inquire about the health of his ailing father last month, police and reports said. 

A trained group of 52 deadly militants of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had planned to blow up the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) building to assassinate the President Asif Ali Zardari, The News daily reported on Sunday. 

This was to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden, but the security agencies foiled the plot when four terrorists were arrested on May 13 from the hospital premises ahead of the execution of their plot. 

The group which was given the task to assassinate President Zardari on the premises of the hospital during his possible visit to the hospital where his father was being treated, comprised 10 attackers who were supposed to blow up their suicide jackets, in a bid to ensure that the president didn’t escape the attack. 

The plot to blow up the whole structure of the hospital was said to have been hatched after the mastermind of the plot decided to apply a no-risk policy to kill the president at all costs. 

President Asif Ali Zardari was stopped from visiting the hospital by the law enforcing and intelligence agencies to avoid any disaster, the sources said. 

According to The News, the intelligence agencies received information on May 13 that a plot to assassinate Asif Ali Zardari had been finalised by al-Qaeda and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and he would be attacked during his visit to the hospital. 

The report said that Qari Shakeel, deputy chief, TTP Mohmand tribal region, was given the responsibility to lead the 42-member terrorist group, prepared to execute the plan. 

At the initial stage, a group of four activists of the TTP had been deployed in the hospital in the guise of labourers for reconnaissance, the report said.