Was the Wagah suicide bomber a Pakistani army insider?

NEW DELHI: A civilian with the Pakistan army, who was posted close to Wagah border and missing for the past few months, may have played a key role in Sunday's suicide attack that killed over 60 people, investigators suspect. The indication comes even as it emerges that an alert issued by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in early October was unusually sharp on the coming attack.

As investigations pick up the threads of the deadly attack, indications are that a civilian employed with a signal unit of the Pakistan army may have had a key role. The employee, posted with a unit deployed close to the Wagah border, had gone missing in June this year.

The civilian, believed to be in his early 20s, was either the suicide bomber, or played a crucial role in orchestrating the attack, investigators suspect.

Even as investigations progress into the deadly attack, it emerges that RAW had issued an unusually specific intelligence alert two weeks earlier about a possible terror attack on Wagah.

In its communication to various senior officials, including the PMO, RAW said suicide terrorists had already reached Lahore for a possible attack in Wagah. In the wake of the alert, the Indian security agencies at Wagah had held meetings, and stepped up security at the gate.

It is not clear if RAW shared the alert with Pakistan. "Our agencies do receive and issue several such alerts every month, and many of them may also have some references to other countries. So it is not expected of them to share with any other country," said one senior official.

It now emerges that the first time Wagah's flag-lowering ceremony came under the scanner of terror outfits was possibly sometime last year. In summer of 2013, the US agencies are believed to have alerted the Indian establishment that the terrorists may target the boisterous ceremony at the India-Pakistan border.

The Indian security establishment believes that the attack was the handiwork of one of the Taliban factions in Pakistan. At least three different groups have separately claimed responsibility- Al-Qaeda affiliate Jundullah, and two splinter groups of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan — Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Mahar Mehsud.