KARACHI: The three gun attacks on Sunday and at least two deadly ambushes last month, all in the same parts of Karachi East district, targeting the people from Shia and Ahmadi communities, were carried out with the same 9mm pistol, confirmed a forensic test report on Monday.

Within the span of two hours on Sunday, DSP Traffic Faiz Ali Shigri was shot dead in the targeted attack on his official car in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, DSP Gulberg Zafar Hussain came under attack near Samama Shopping Centre and a trader belonging to the Ahmadi community, Sajid Mahmud, was killed in Gulzar-i-Hijri.

The same 9mm pistol had been used in the three attacks and at least two shootings which had left Mansoor Zaidi, the trustee of an Imambargah, and another man belonging to the Shia community, Jawad Raza, in Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Gulshan-i-Iqbal, respectively, dead on Oct 8, said Karachi police chief Additional IG Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar. He added that the forensic lab of police department after an examination of the spent bullet casings collected from the different crime scenes confirmed that the same group of militants had been involved in the incidents.

However, as the two militants belonging to banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Ishaq alias Bobby and Asim alias Capri, who had recently confessed to their involvement in several sectarian attacks in other districts of the city were not behind the latest shootings, another militant group was believed to be behind the targeted killings in Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Gulshan-i-Iqbal, said Sindh chief of the Counter-Terrorism Department Dr Sanaullah Abbasi.

“Primary motive for the killings appeared to be sectarian,” he said.

Earlier, the CTD police registered an FIR of the killing of DSP Shigri against unidentified suspects on the complaint of the wounded policeman, Abdul Rasheed, who was driving the official car of the officer.

Just over an hour before DSP Shigri’s murder, the same suspects had killed the trader belonging to the Ahmadi community, Sheikh Sajid Mahmud, 55, near his home in Kaneez Fatima Society, Gulzar-i-Hijri. “Sheikh Mahmud, who dealt in spare parts for flour mills, was killed for his faith,” said the spokesperson of the Jamaat Ahmadiyya, Saleemuddin, in a statement on Monday.

The murder of a third Ahmadi man in the same neighbourhood this year indicated “a planned action against the Ahmadis”, he said, recalling that Daud Ahmad and Chaudhry Khaleeq were shot dead in the same vicinity on May 25 and June 20, respectively.

He expressed the concern that violence and social boycott were preached against the Ahmadis while the authorities let this happen despite the fact that hate propaganda was apparently banned under National Action Plan.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, DG Rangers Maj Gen Bilal Akbar, IG Police A.D. Khowaja and other senior officials offered funeral prayers for DSP Shigri. Both the chiefs of the law enforcement agencies expressed their sorrow over the killings and sympathy with the heirs of the deceased officer.

The chief minister said if the terrorists thought that they could dampen the resolve and morale of the law enforcers by killing the police and other law enforcers, they were mistaken. He vowed that the Rangers and police through coordination would continue fighting till the elimination of last terrorist.

Mr Shah also hinted that the strategy against terrorists would be made more effective. He also announced Rs5 million as compensation for the victim’s family and issued directions to ensure earliest completion of necessary legal requirements to this effect.

The body of the slain DSP was later taken to the Wada-i-Husain graveyard, off the Superhighway, for burial.

‘Terrorists’ focus shifts to Karachi’

“Terrorists have shifted their focus from Wana and Waziristan to Karachi and other parts of Sindh,” said Majlis-i-Wahdat-i-Muslimeen central leader Allama Ahmed Iqbal in a statement while condemning the recent targeted killings.

He said terrorists from Mastung and other parts of Balochistan, too, had come to Sindh with the help and support of their ‘facilitators’. This was the ominous sign that the PPP leadership and the Sindh government must take seriously, he added.

He said training camps and dens of terror outfits existed in different cities of Sindh. He called for effective strategy against the banned outfits.

Published in Dawn November 29th, 2016