KARACHI: The Counter-Terrorism Department of Sindh police on Monday claimed to have thwarted major terrorist attacks in the city by killing three suspected militants belonging to the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ (IEA) group of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

Also, four other militants belonging to banned outfits were arrested in different parts of Karachi, as the CTD accelerated efforts to track suspects behind the renewed wave of targeted attacks on law enforcers.

During the past one month, the outlawed TTP had targeted law enforcers in Lahore, Quetta, Chaman and Karachi, according to CTD DIG Amir Farooqi and CTD SSP (Intelligence) Omar Shahid Hamid.

Speaking at a press conference, the senior officers said the police had arrested a suspect in Lyari recently. It emerged during his interrogation that a militant group had been planning some major terror attacks in the country’s financial hub.

Police say suspects belonged to TTP’s ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ group

After a tip-off received by the CTD police, a targeted raid was conducted in Machhar Colony in the early hours of Monday. In an ensuing exchange of fire, three suspects belonging to the TTP’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan group were gunned down, the officers said.

“They were planning terror attacks on Ismaili Jamaat Khanas, Rapid Response Force in Baldia, Imambargahs and shrines across the city and had [conducted] one full reconnaissance in this regard,” revealed DIG Farooqi.

A suicide bomber was expected to come from Afghanistan through Quetta to carry out the attack on a Jamaat Khana in Karachi, the senior officer said.

The police claimed to have seized a Kalashnikov, two 9mm pistols and a hand grenade from their custody. The seized arms were sent to the forensic division of the police, which confirmed that the same 9mm pistols had been used in the murder of Sub-inspector Riaz in Saeedabad two years ago. The weapon was again used the following year to kill Shafiullah on the suspicion of being a policeman.

DIG Farooqi said the militants had been associated with the TTP’s Qari Shakirullah group, which had become ‘active’ again. “The militants were being patronised by RAW and Afghanistan’s NDS,” said the CTD officer.

Raids in Jackson, Nazimabad

Separately, the CTD arrested three suspects, identified as Mohammed Ibrahim, Imran and Taj Mohammed and seized three pistols from them during a raid in the Jackson area.

Yet another militant belonging to a banned group, Mohammad Ashfaq, was arrested in Nazimabad, the CTD officer said, adding that a pistol and a hand grenade were seized from his possession.

During initial probe, the held militant ‘confessed’ to have killed two people, namely Kamran and Abbas Haider, on sectarian grounds in Rizvia Society in 2013.

In reply to a question about the case of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militants who had escaped from judicial complex after a jailbreak, the DIG said their assessment showed that they had fled the city. However, he said, their three facilitators had been arrested by the CTD in Abbottabad. They were being interrogated, he added.

‘Elements within Afghan intelligence’

Additional IG Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, who heads the CTD, told Dawn that information collected from the captured militants revealed that they belonged to the splinter group of Mufti Shakir-led TTP. He said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan had split from the Mufti Shakir-led TTP and was “now affiliated with some elements within Afghan intelligence.”

“This group had been tasked to conduct reconnaissance of various locations in Karachi including Ismaili community’s Jamaat Khanas, Imambargahs, Hamdard University, police training centres and other government installations,” apprehended Dr Abbasi.

“The diversity of the target pattern indicates the hand of a foreign intelligence service as their aim, it seems, has been to cause maximum damage and disruption in Karachi,” believes the CTD chief.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2017

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