Nadir Ali Jakhrani
Nadir Ali Jakhrani (alias Murshid; born c. 1990) is a Pakistani militant and convicted terrorist affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIL). He served as the lead facilitator alongside the mastermind Ghulam Mustafa Mazari for the 2017 Sehwan suicide bombing.
Early life and radicalization
Nadir Ali Jakhrani was born in Saeed Khan Jakhrani village in the Kashmore District of Sindh. Raised in a Deobandi family with political ties to the JUI-F, Nadir Ali Jakhrani met militant commander Ghulam Mustafa Mazari in 2009. Under Ghulam Mustafa Mazari's influence, Nadir Ali Jakhrani was enrolled in a commerce college in Rajanpur in 2011 before abandoning his studies to join Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). He traveled to militant camps in Mastung Balochistan where he met prominent LeJ and TTP figures before transitioning to ISIL alongside Ghulam Mustafa Mazari.
Sehwan bombing
Due to his geographic familiarity with Sindh. Nadir Ali Jakhrani was chosen to lead the ground execution of the Sehwan suicide bombing. In February 2017 he escorted the suicide bomber Babar Brohi from Kashmore to Sehwan. Nadir Ali Jakhrani conducted direct reconnaissance of the shrine, secured a safe house and personally fixed the suicide jacket onto the bomber before leaving him in the crowded dhamaal courtyard. According to law enforcement and intelligence reports, Nadir Ali Jakhrani was responsible for transporting the suicide bomber to the target location and used the encrypted messaging application Threema to coordinate the logistics of the attack with his apprentice Safiullah Sodwani Mazari.
Arrest and trial
On November 15, 2017 Nadir Ali Jakhrani was intercepted and arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Sindh Rangers at the Peer Mahi Ghari Shrine in Manghopir, Karachi. At the time of his arrest he was transporting 400 grams of explosives, detonators, a hand grenade, and firearms on a motorcycle for a planned subsequent attack in Karachi. Following his arrest he was remanded into police custody by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) for further interrogation regarding the explosives.
Nadir Ali Jakhrani recorded a confessional statement detailing the Sehwan plot's conception and execution. In December 2017 the CTD submitted its final charge sheet to the ATC. Nadir Ali Jakhrani was officially named as one of the primary arrested suspects alongside Furqan while other key figures in the network including Ghulam Mustafa Mazari and Safiullah Mazari were listed as absconders or deceased. The court subsequently ordered the arrest of the remaining fugitive suspects to face trial alongside Nadir Ali Jakhrani. In 2018 the ATC suspended standard proceedings to transfer his trial to a military court under the jurisdiction of the Sindh government.
In May 2020 following the conclusion of the trial the ATC convicted Nadir Ali Jakhrani and his co-accused Furqan, sentencing both men to death for their roles in orchestrating the shrine massacre.