KARACHI: The Monday evening raid by Rangers on a residential building in the Urdu Bazaar area, which turned into a deadly gun battle and came to an end by midnight, left four suspected militants, including a couple, dead. The crossfire also killed an infant believed to be the couple’s daughter, officials said on Tuesday.

Described by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan as one of the “major successes” of the paramilitary force, the raid on the building situated on the congested Muqaddas Street turned into one of the longest gunfights in recent history between Rangers and the militants. It started at around 8pm on Monday and continued till 3am.

The faceoff was triggered by an attack on the paramilitary soldiers by the militants from the apartment when the former were taking position, the officials said.

“The Rangers raided the apartment building after receiving information about the presence there of suspected militants belonging to a banned outfit,” said a statement issued by Rangers on Monday night, adding: “The militants hurled two grenades and started firing as soon as they saw Rangers. Four Rangers personnel and two passers-by suffered injuries in the explosions.”

ISPR says Rangers’ action part of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad

The otherwise peaceful neighbourhood in the evening after business hours reverberated with gunfire that continued non-stop from both sides, indicating how well armed the militants were to keep the paramilitary soldiers engaged for about seven hours.

After a couple of hours of the encounter, a security official said, one of the militants blew himself up while the other four were killed in the encounter with Rangers.

After clearing the area and the building, the bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi for medico-legal formalities and their identity.

“We have received five bodies. Among them are three men aged between 30 and 45 years. There was also an around 35-year-old woman and a girl aged four to five months,” said an official at the health facility.

On Tuesday evening, a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) came up with details of the deceased militants killed as part of the ongoing Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad.

“Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, targeted raid last night killed four terrorists of banned outfit Jandullah. The terrorists killed include Zahid Afridi alias Faheem alias Hameed, Muhammad Hafeezullah Quet­tawal, Mama and lady facilitator Afshan,” it said.

The ISPR statement contained a list of terrorist activities allegedly carried out by the deceased militants over the past eight years. These included a bomb attack on a special security unit bus in March 2015 which left two policemen dead and 15 injured, a grenade-and-gun attack on the Karachi City Courts to set four alleged terrorists free, killing on sectarian grounds, bank robberies, assassination of Rangers soldiers, planning to attack Karachi jail and kidnapping for ransom of an Awami National Party leader in 2015.

Police investigators visited the building on Tuesday, launched a search operation in the neighbourhood and collected evidence to share with the media.

“A man who rented out the flat has been detained,” said Raja Umer Khattab of Sindh police’s Counter-Terrorism Department. “The deceased Naeem hailed from Pishin. He was living here with his family and running a taxi for apparent livelihood. He was a key man of the Jandullah and moved to the flat only a few months ago.”

According to a statement issued by the interior ministry, Chaudhry Nisar called Rangers Director General Maj Gen Muhammad Saeed to get details about the encounter.

“The interior minister congratulated the Rangers DG on one of the most important successes as a result of the action carried out with great expertise and courage in a congested area of Karachi,” it said.

“The last night’s action was one of the most important successes till now which was reflective of the professionalism and determination of the Rangers. The interior minister expressed his best wishes and prayed for the early recovery of the injured soldiers of the Rangers. The interior minister also conveyed prime minister’s appreciation on the performance of the Rangers,” the statement added.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2017