Pakistan police detain teen girl radicalized online in suspected suicide bombing plot

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Police in Pakistan detained a teenage girl who was radicalized and recruited online by an outlawed separatist group to carry out a “major suicide attack,” authorities said Monday.

No criminal charges will be filed and she will be placed under state protection as “a victim rather than a suspect,” Sindh provincial Home Minister Ziaul Hassan said at a news conference.

The girl was detained during a routine police check on buses as she traveled to Karachi, the Sindh province capital, from southwestern Balochistan province to meet a handler, Hassan said.

The girl was targeted online by the Baloch Liberation Army, which was designated as a terrorist group by the United States earlier year. The group convinced the girl that carrying out an attack would bring her honor and recognition within the Baloch community, similar to other women who have carried out suicide bombings against security forces, Hassan said.

“The girl appeared confused when police officers asked her routine questions,” said Hassan, who added that she was taken to a police facility and disclosed months of contact with militants through social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram.

The girl appeared with her mother at a news conference but her face was covered and her name and age were withheld. Police showed a video statement she made with details about her contacts with BLA and how she agreed to carry out a suicide attack.

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar condemned BLA and other separatist groups for luring people toward violence and said detaining the girl prevented a potential large loss of life.

Baloch separatists have waged an insurgency since the early 2000s seeking greater autonomy and in some cases independence from Pakistan while demanding a larger share of natural resources.

Authorities said the group has attempted to increase its use of female attackers in recent years. A female suicide bomber affiliated with BLA killed three Chinese teachers in 2022 near a university campus in Karachi.