Law enforcement agencies in Karachi have foiled a suicide bombing plot and rescued a minor Baloch girl who was being groomed by banned militant outfits to carry out a suicide attack, Sindh Interior Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference alongside Additional Inspector General of Police (CTD) Azad Khan, the minister said extremist elements linked to Fitna Al Hindustan were increasingly targeting minors and using social media as a tool to radicalise vulnerable minds.

He said a network associated with the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) had attempted to indoctrinate the underage girl and push her towards carrying out a suicide attack.

However, timely and effective action by law enforcement agencies not only saved the girl’s life but also averted a major tragedy in Karachi.

The Additional IG CTD Sindh said the girl was taken into protective custody during a highly sensitive, intelligence-based operation on the night of December 25. Investigations revealed that her mindset had been gradually influenced through hateful and extremist content on social media.

According to officials, the girl had been secretly using a mobile phone without her mother’s knowledge.

Militant handlers exploited this vulnerability, with one individual initially approaching her under the guise of sympathy and support before attempting to persuade her to carry out an attack.

Authorities said the girl was deceived into travelling to Karachi. However, due to strict security checks at police checkpoints, the handler failed to move her to the intended location, leading to the exposure of the plot.

During debriefing, the girl provided details about the network, its contacts and its methods.

Given her age, her family was immediately contacted. Officials said her identity was kept strictly confidential, and she was handed over to her family with full protection and dignity, while investigations continue.

At the press conference, audio statements from the girl and her mother were also played for the media, with their identities concealed.

The girl said she was first exposed to hateful content on social media, which gradually became more frequent.

Over time, she was sent links and speeches and was made to believe that sacrificing one’s life was the ultimate goal.

She said that when the handler learned her father had passed away, he exploited her vulnerability further under the pretext of compassion.

She added that militant activities were portrayed as acts of bravery in WhatsApp groups.

The girl said she now realised the destruction she was being led towards and recalled feeling intense fear when questioned at a police checkpoint.

She stressed that Baloch traditions teach respect for women and that sacrificing women or girls is not part of Baloch culture.

“Those who recruit in the name of sacrifice are not helpers, they are predators,” she said.

Her mother said she agreed to share her statement in the public interest so that no other girl would fall into such a trap.

She added that the state had protected her daughter’s life, dignity and future “like a mother”.

The Additional IG CTD urged social media platforms to take strict action against extremist and hate content, shut down accounts and improve algorithms to prevent radicalisation.

He also warned parents to closely monitor their children’s online activities, saying a single mobile phone could endanger an entire family.

He said facilitators and militant networks would be taken to their “logical end” under a zero-tolerance policy and that counterterrorism operations would continue without interruption.

The Sindh interior minister said the incident was clear evidence that banned outfits were using women and underage girls as tools.

He stressed that suicide attacks have no place in Islam, humanity or Baloch traditions, calling the exploitation of young girls for violence one of the worst forms of terrorism and human abuse.