KARACHI: As a sign of accelerated action against militants after the resurgence of targeted killings in Karachi recently, police on Sunday claimed to have killed three alleged militants in an ‘encounter’ in Quaidabad, officials said.

Late on Saturday night, two suspects allegedly linked with the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi were killed in Kunwari Colony in Manghopir by the police counterterrorism department. “The suspects were involved in the killing of MQM lawmaker Manzar Imam and over 25 other sectarian killings,” an official added.

A day before yesterday, Pakistan Rangers Sindh in an operation with the police killed three ‘militants’ in the same area.

Malir SSP Rao Anwar told Dawn on Sunday that the police took the action on a tip-off and conducted a raid in Gulshan-i-Buner, where they were attacked by gunmen. The police returned fire and killed three suspects.

The officer claimed the dead belonged to the banned Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

The SSP identified one of the dead as Riaz, alias Raja, said to be an AQIS commander.

“He was involved in several policemen’s killing in Surjani Town, murder of a doctor in the same vicinity and targeted killing of Shias,” the SSP added.

The Malir SSP said they had received secret information that the suspect had carried out reconnaissance for targeting a law enforcement agency head, an office of an intelligence agency and he himself (Rao Anwar).

He disclosed that the police had also conducted a targeted raid in the same area on Saturday, but the militants escaped.

Quaidabad SHO Mohammed Ali Marwat told Dawn that Riaz Mohammed was also “involved in killing a school principal in North Nazimabad”.

This gang was also involved in kidnapping for ransom of businessmen.

The SHO said they had received a tip-off from an intelligence agency that they had been planning to carry out attacks on the “caravan of the Pakistan Rangers Sindh director general” and other officials.

The police claimed to have seized one Kalashnikov, one 9mm pistol and one 30-bore pistol from the possession of the dead militants.

Despite killings and arrests of hundreds of militants over the past two years in Karachi, law enforcement officials believed the militants still presented a serious threat.

They suspected that the recent killing of seven policemen guarding polio workers in Orangi Town was carried out by banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militants.

Similarly, they suspected involvement of ‘Special Task Force’ of the Tahreek Taliban Pakistan in targeted killing of two traffic policemen in Azizabad recently.

Additional inspector general of police counterterrorism department Dr Sanaullah Abbasi told Dawn that the TTP had formed several groups to carry out acts.

One such group was a special task force (STF), which he described as ‘lethal’. It attacks police, law enforcers and the army.

“At this moment, the STF is active in Karachi and they have expertise in making small improvised explosive devices,” he said.

The TTP also formed a Taliban Special Group, which prepared suicide bombers and carried out suicide attacks.

The third TTP outfit was the Mujahideen Special Group, which attacked soldiers, he added.

He said the TTP had also formed a Taliban Intelligence Group, which collected information for attacking a target.

The TTP had also set up a Taliban Engineering Commission “working on acquiring missile technology”, he said.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2016