Sources said the facilitator had been living in Rawalpindi for about a month, while the handler was arrested in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Both suspects had carried out multiple recce missions together with the suicide bomber before the attack to finalise the plan, the sources said.

The suspects have been moved to an undisclosed location after their arrest.

Officials said the facilitator was detained from the Dhoke Pracha area and had been conducting a recce of key sites in Rawalpindi Cantonment.

The sources said both men were arrested within 40 hours of the attack, underscoring the speed and success of the security operation and the foiling of the wider plot.

State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry told a private TV programme on Wednesday that preliminary investigations indicate the suicide bomber was an Afghan national.

He said investigators found the attacker did not understand local languages and was unfamiliar with Pakistani currency.

Talal Chaudhry added that after entering Islamabad, the bomber travelled on several different motorcycles, and that interrogations revealed he had difficulty paying fares in Pakistani rupees.

At least 12 people were killed and 36 others injured in the Tuesday suicide attack on the Islamabad judicial complex.

The state minister emphasised that Pakistan does not mention anyone without irrefutable evidence.

Talal Chaudhry further stated that the Afghan Taliban and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are partners both ideologically and operationally.

He said that despite the Doha agreement, Afghanistan had not upheld commitments to prevent terrorism emanating from its soil.

He said Pakistan had sought a fatwa from Taliban leadership in Afghanistan — specifically from Amir Mullah Hibatullah — regarding the TTP, but no consensus was reached during the negotiations.

The minister pointed out that since Afghanistan does not possess long-range missiles to strike Pakistan, terrorist attacks can be carried out through other covert and limited means.