Terrorists preparing for Muharram, and so are LEAs

Karachi
Three terrorist organisations that are operating as a nexus are planning to carry out attacks in Karachi in the month of Muharram, police told The News ion Sunday.
The al Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) which is now linked with the Middle Eastern terrorist group Daesh, working together, are involved in many terrorist activities in Sindh in the recent past including murdering police officials in Karachi, counter-terrorism department anti-sectarian intelligence chief Khurram Waris told The News.
He added that AQIS was now leading the other two groups.
Militants arrested by the counter-terrorism department in raids conducted in different parts of the province have disclosed during interrogation that the nexus had formed three groups in the province headed by commanders known only by their code names - Umer, Mistry and Bengali – involved in killings and other terrorist activities in Hyderabad and Karachi.
They were responsible for the recent killing traffic policemen in Karachi and also the attack on a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community in the Safoora Goth area of the city.
Waris said the groups were also generating funds for their organisations by committing robberies and kidnappings for ransom, extorting traders, and collecting donations using fake madrasa receipts.

The LeJ set-up
The LeJ is headed by its commanders Dilawer and Malik Tasaduq in Karachi and other parts of the province but have been in hiding since the law enforcement agencies launched a crackdown and there are reports that they have taken refuge in upcountry areas.
Notorious terrorist Naeem Bukhari is looking after the organisational matters of the LeJ and recruiting wanted terrorists with bounties on their heads as well as young men to reconsolidate the group. He is also preparing terrorists for carrying out attacks in Karachi during Muharram.
Besides, Bukhari has hired expelled militants who were involved in Afghanistan war and members of the Ilyas Kashmiri group. AQIS Sindh commander Abdullah alias Abdullah Aziz is also using similar tactics.
The official said AQIS and other outfits, following the military operation against them in Khyber Agency, temporarily shifted their headquarters to the hilly areas of Balochistan and had also joined hands with the banned Baloch Liberation Army.
The militants, who were earlier working for Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and expelled over their involvement in criminal activities, were hired by AQIS. “Most of these ex-LeT members are Karachi-based,” Waris added.
The official said presently the presence of the three groups’ nexus had been detected in Hyderabad, on the outskirts of Karachi as well as its inner areas including Shah Faisal, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, North Nazimabad, Sharea Noor Jehan, and North Karachi.
“The leaders of these groups are in Balochistan and instruct their terrorists to attack personnel of the law-enforcement agencies in Karachi,” he added.
However, police, Rangers and intelligence agencies they have damaged their network and many of their leaders have either been killed or arrested.”
Waris said to avenge the killing and arrest of their leaders and intimidate the law enforcement agencies, terrorists were attacking them with grenades and improvised explosive devices.
“Weapons, explosives, and other material for making bombs are transported from Balochistan to Karachi. We are working hard to stop their supplies,” he added.