KARACHI: Law enforcers on Saturday claimed to have arrested a suspected militant, said to be associated with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in an intelligence-based raid in Ittehad Town.

They said that Abdul Ghaffar alias Amjad was also involved in a suicide attack at the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Clifton in 2011.

A spokesperson for the Rangers said in a statement that the held suspect was a close aide of a TTP commander Mohammed Ali alias Mufti Khalid. He said that explosive material was recovered from the suspect’s custody.

The suspect recently arrived in Karachi to re-organise his network, the spokesperson added.

The Rangers said that the suspect along with his close aides, Mohammed Ali alias Mufti Khalid and Daud alias Waleed, had planned suicide bombings at the mausoleum of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Oct 2011.

Ghaffar revealed that to achieve his purpose, he had brought five suicide bombers — Abu Salih and his wife belonging to Chech­nya, Daud alias Hasan from Azerbaijan, Shoaib from Karachi and Atteq hailing from Waziristan, the statement said.

During questioning, the suspect ‘confessed’ that on the day of incident, he along with his accomplices was going towards the mausoleum when some policemen indicated them to stop. However, they did not stop and an exchange of firing between the two sides took place, during which his accomplices exploded their suicide jackets.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2024