Jeddah Suicide Bomber was Indian, Confirms DNA Test

The operative from banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba who blew himself up outside the U.S. consulate in Jeddah in 2016 was an Indian national, a report in the Indian Express said, quoting a senior security official. Saudi Arabia confirmed the identity of the suicide bomber on basis of a DNA test, according to the report. The man was identified as Fayaz Kagzi.

Indian officials received confirmation from Saudi Arabian authorities that the DNA samples sent by New Delhi last year matched those of the bomber, the report said.

The incident was one of the four suicide bombings that took place at three different locations in Saudi Arabia on July 4, 2016. While one bombing at the parking lot of Al-Masjid an-Nabawi killed four people, two other bombs targeted the Shia mosque in Qatif, and the Masjid-i-Nabvi in Medina, respectively. The fourth blast happened near the U.S. consulate in the western coastal city of Jeddah, where the police attempted to arrest Kagzi. Two police officers were injured in the blast.

When Saudi Arabia released photos of the Jeddah bomber, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and National Investigation Agency tried to verify if it was Kagzi, a man wanted in many terror-related cases in India.

Kagzi hailed from Beed in Maharashtra and is believed to be the mastermind and financier of the blasts at German Bakery in 2010 and Jangli Maharaj Road in 2012 in Pune, according to the Indian Express. Kagzi was also wanted in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case and is featured on the wanted list of the Central Bureau of Investigation with the Interpol. While Kagzi was not linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attack, he is believed to have taught 10 of the terrorists Hindi for the operation, including Ajmal Kasab, who was executed in 2012.

New Delhi sent Kagzi’s DNA profile to Saudi Arabia in August last year. The NIA has informed the investigating agency’s special court in New Delhi of Kagzi’s death, the Indian Express quoted sources as saying.

Kagzi had fled to Pakistan via Bangladesh in 2006, along with 26/11 handler Zaibuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, according to security officials. He later moved to Saudi Arabia to look into the recruitment of Indian nationals for the LeT. Before the July 2016 suicide bombing, he returned to Pakistan for a brief period. The report further said that Kagzi may have shifted his loyalties to the Islamic State group in 2014 and may have been tasked with carrying out suicide bombing in Saudi Arabia.