The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Pakistan's southwestern Sindh Province has said it has arrested a suspect in the 2019 attempted assassination attempt on a top Pakistani cleric, accusing the arrested man of being a "trained terrorist" who belongs to the Zainebiyoun Brigade, a militant group allegedly backed by Iran.
The CTD said in a January 20 statement that Syed Mohammad Mehdi was arrested in an operation at a bazaar in Karachi. The CTD accused Mehdi of targeting clerics in the provincial capital and of working for Iranian intelligence.
Khuram Waris, who heads the CTD in Karachi, told Radio Mashaal on January 21 that Mehdi is a Pakistani citizen who received training in a "neighboring country."
"He is a member of the Zainabiyoun Brigade. He was involved in many attacks, including the attack on Mufti Taqi Usmani in Karachi."
Usmani, a religious scholar and former top court judge in Pakistan, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Karachi in 2019. Two of Usmani's bodyguards were killed in the attack, for which no group claimed responsibility.
Waris claimed two associates of Mehdi's were also involved in recent attacks against clerics in Karachi.
The Zainabiyoun Brigade is alleged to have been formed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and believed to have up to 1,000 fighters.
The arrest comes amid heightened tensions between Islamabad and Tehran after the IRGC on January 16 launched unannounced missile and drone attacks against targets in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan.
The attacks against Jaish al-Adl, a U.S. designated terrorist group targeted that has been accused by Tehran of carrying out deadly attacks in Iran, were justified by Tehran as its "legitimate and legal right to deter national security threats."
Pakistan condemned the strike on its territory and responded on January 18 with air strikes against separatist groups allegedly hiding out on Iranian territory.