Al-Qaeda member, three others killed in Pir Mahal raid

TOBA TEK SINGH: An alleged terrorist injured during a raid in Pir Mahal succumbed to his wounds at Allied Hospital Faisalabad on Thursday.
Earlier, Habib-ur-Rehman - also known as Qaiser and Abdul Rehman – was seriously wounded while a woman and two children died in an explosion caused by a hand grenade at his rented house in Pir Mahal when police and other security agencies raided his house to arrest him.
Geo News reported that he was stated to be a key figure of Al-Qaeda and also believed to be a close aide of Dr Usman, a key suspect in the GHQ attack.
Police sources claimed that the members of a terrorist gang had provided details about the injured terrorist, Qaiser, after they were arrested from Faisalabad.
They had told the law enforcers that he was currently living in a rented house at Pir Mahal Housing Colony.
On Thursday, the police and personnel from other agencies raided the place but the terrorist offered resistance and also threw two hand grenades at the raiding party. As a result, an Elite Force cop, Moazzam received serious wounds.
The encounter, which continued for several hours, ended when he exploded a hand grenade inside his house. Later, the law enforcers entered the premises where they found Habib in an injured condition along with the bodies of a woman, stated to be his wife or a relative, and two children. Later, a four-year-old boy, who was also injured, told the raiding team that his name was Ibrahim and he was nephew of Qaiser.
The police first shifted Habib to the DHQ Hospital Toba Tek Singh from where he was referred to Faisalabad’s Allied Hospital where the injured policeman had been admitted.
The PRO to the district police chief, Shahbaz Virk, told journalists that they had recovered a number of police uniforms, three suicide jackets, two hand grenades, explosives, bullets and maps of sensitive areas of the country from the house. Police also took into custody the female house owner for investigation.
Some locals claimed that Habib had been running the business of detergent powder for the last few years. Sources also confirmed that he had remained an activist of banned Sipaha-e-Sahaba Pakistan.