Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Sunday announced that security agencies had foiled a major terrorist plot targeting Independence Day celebrations by arresting a suspected suicide bomber linked to the Majeed Brigade.
Addressing a press conference in Quetta alongside senior officials, Bugti said the attacker had been tasked with striking crowds gathered to mark August 14. He commended the efforts of security forces, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Balochistan, and police for “saving the province from devastation.”
“For the first time, a member of the Majeed Brigade has been taken into custody. He is a Pakistan Studies lecturer, someone who taught students while secretly facilitating terrorists. Imagine how many young minds he must have influenced. He even provided medical treatment to injured militants at his home,” Bugti revealed.
The chief minister warned that Pakistan was facing a “well-organised conspiracy” aimed at destabilising the country. “Propaganda is spread in such a way that our agencies, institutions and government remain under constant pressure, while terrorism is disguised under different narratives,” he said.
He criticised families who conceal the involvement of their relatives in militant groups. “This will no longer be tolerated. Families must inform the government if their children are linked with insurgent outfits. Otherwise, it will be presumed the entire household is complicit,” Bugti warned, urging parents to monitor their children’s activities.
Sharing details of the probe, Bugti said the detained suspect had made “startling disclosures,” confirming that the Majeed Brigade operated through multiple tiers. “They recruit, indoctrinate, and train individuals as suicide bombers. In one tier, operatives were paid to kill policemen, Levies personnel, and security forces; in another, they were offered money to target Punjabi citizens,” he said, adding that law enforcement agencies were now pursuing the suspect’s associates.
The chief minister dismissed the perception that the conflict was only between the military and insurgents. “That impression was deliberately created. We have now established a dedicated cell to dismantle such networks,” he stated.
Bugti also played a recorded confession of the arrested man, identified as Usman Qazi. In the video, Qazi said he had completed his Master’s from Quaid-i-Azam University and a PhD from the University of Peshawar, and was serving as a Grade-18 lecturer, while his wife also held a government position.
Qazi admitted that in 2020, during a visit to Quaid-i-Azam University, he was introduced to three members of a banned outfit—two of whom were later killed. He said the group inducted him into the militant network and connected him with commander Bashir Zai through Telegram. Acting on the group’s instructions, he confessed to facilitating three terrorist operations in Quetta.
Bugti described the arrest as a major breakthrough and vowed that all accomplices of the network would be brought to justice.
