KARACHI: Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, has claimed that three suspected militants killed in an ‘encounter’ on the outskirts of Manghopir late on Wednesday night were involved in the killing of 82 people, including members of the Ismaili community and security personnel.

Sharing information about the three militants with the media on Thursday, a spokesperson for Rangers said that one of them had links with the militant Islamic State (IS) group and was directly involved in the 2015 Safoora incident in which 46 members of the Ismaili community, including 16 women, were massacred.

The spokesperson identified him as Mohammad Hussain alias Mistri Pathan and said he had links with both the IS and Al Qaeda. Mohammad Hussain was one of the terrorists who attacked the bus in which members of the Ismaili community were travelling that fateful day, he said, adding that he had climbed onto the bus through the driver’s door and opened indiscriminate fire on passengers.

The spokesperson said Mohammad Hussain was also involved in the killing of some policemen. He killed two policemen in Hyderabad in September 2014, the spokesperson said, adding that he was also involved in cases of extortion and robberies. In October 2014, he along with his accomplices had looted Rs1.9 million from a bank in Hyderabad.

Spokesperson says one of the slain militants had links with IS

The Rangers spokesperson identified another militant as Salman alias Yasir and said he was a leader of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Swat. Salman had remained actively involved in fighting against security forces and the people of Swat and had held hostage four soldiers in 2008 in the river valley, he added.

He said Salman was involved in planning suicide attacks on law enforcement personnel, including the one on the Rangers headquarters in Karachi’s North Nizimabad area in November 2012, which had left three Rangers personnel dead. In some other bomb blasts in which Salman had played a role, 12 people lost their lives. He was involved in the bomb blast in a rally of the Awami National Party in which nine workers of the party were killed, including its leader Bashir Jan, he added.

The spokesperson said Salam was also involved in the targeted killing of 10 people, policemen and political workers.

He said Salman was involved in providing training to terrorists and in some cases of kidnapping for ransom and extortion. He allegedly kidnapped owner of a leather factory, Hasan Shalwani, in May 2015, and released him after receiving Rs3m as ransom.

The Rangers spokesperson identified the third militant as Mohammad Salman Khan alias Sharmila Pathan and said he had links with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Al Qaeda.

He said Salman Khan was responsible for training terrorists and was involved in attacks on policemen. He was the main accused of a hand-grenade attack on an Imambargah near Ayesha Manzil in 2014. He was involved in a bank robbery in Hyderabad and cases of kidnapping for ransom.

The spokesperson said Rangers had seized a large quantity of weapons from the three militants’ possession.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2016