KARACHI: Three policemen and a 12-year-old boy were killed in an attack in the Korangi area on Friday. The attack left a passer-by wounded.

The attack, which came as a grim reminder of the targeted killing of policemen and a retired army officer in the past few months, raises questions about the success of intelligence-based targeted operations in the city.

The three personnel of the Awami Colony police station had arrived in the area, apparently to arrest a fleeing truck driver involved in an accident, when their van came under the brazen assault.

Splinter groups of militant outfits may be behind the attack

The truck driver had abandoned the vehicle near Darul Uloom in Korangi after the road accident. The van was parked on a roadside and the policemen stood nearby for around 15 to 20 minutes before six gunmen riding motorbikes appeared, said Raja Umar Khattab who heads the Transnational Terrorism Intelligence Group of police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).

The attackers opened fire, leaving the three policemen and two passers-by wounded before speeding away in the direction where they had come from.

The victims were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where doctors pronounced Assistant Sub-Inspector Qamaruddin and Constable Baber Ali along with an unidentified 12-year-old boy dead on arrival.

Dr Seemin Jamali, executive director of the hospital, said the third policeman, Amjad, died during treatment.

However, 15-year-old Mohammad Abid was discharged after the first aid, said the doctor.

Mr Khattab told Dawn that the investigators had collected from the crime scene 45 bullet casings of 9mm pistols.

He quoted witnesses as telling the investigators that there were six gunmen riding three motorbikes. Some wore shalwar-kameez while the others were in shirts and trousers.

The CTD officer said they suspected involvement of the same militant group that had targeted a retired army officer in Baloch Colony and six policemen in New Town and SITE, respectively, because their modus operandi appeared to be the same.

“We are focusing on the possible involvement of three groups,” said Karachi police chief Additional IGP Ghulam Qadir Thebo.

Splinter groups of militant outfits such as Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA), Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) and Ansar-ul-Sharia might be behind this attack.

Besides, said Mr Thebo, the investigators were also looking into the possibility of the involvement of two militants who had recently escaped from the Karachi central prison.

SOP not followed

The officer admitted that the policemen did not follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) to avoid such terrorist acts.

According to the CTD’s initial report about the incident, the policemen sustained bullet wounds on their faces, head and chest.

Quoting a medico-legal examination conducted by Dr Sheeraz, the CTD officials said that the policemen were targeted from a distance of between seven and 10 feet.

AIG CTD Sindh Dr Sanaullah Abbasi told Dawn that apparently Ansar-ul-Sharia was behind the recent wave of terror in the city.

The CTD has submitted an initial report to the home department and other stakeholders about the fresh killings, which showed that this new outfit was inspired by Al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

According to the CTD report, members of the Al Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent, LJ, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and militant Islamic State group have established this new outfit whose chief is Ahmed Farooq.

“This new outfit has carried out acts of terror in Karachi and Balochistan’s Mastung area since February,” according to the report.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2017