KARACHI: Eight suspected terrorists were killed in a raid jointly carried out by the Sindh Rangers and the Counter Terrorism Department on late Saturday night.
Security official said chief of Ansarul Shariah militant group and seven other members of the banned organizations were killed in the operation that was carried out on a tip of in Baldia Town’s Raees Goth area at 11:00 pm.
They said five terrorists were killed in exchange of fire and three others succumbed to their wounds when they were being shifted to a hospital.
A spokesman for the Rangers said Sheryar alias Dr Abdullah Hashmi, Amer of the Ansarul Shariah group, was mastermind behind several terrorist attacks.
Another suspect identified as Arsalan Baig was member of group’s “Target Killing Team”, he said.
Later, addressing a press briefing, Rangers spokesman Colonel Faisal Arif said, all the terrorists killed in the shootout have been identified.
He said the recently emerged militant group Ansarul Shariah Pakistan (ASP) has lost its competence in carrying out a terror plot in the city after the last night encounter.
Most of the militants associated with Ansarul Shariah have been killed [however] four of them are still at large, the Rangers official informed.
He said that the group was comprised highly educated militants who were ideologically associated with global terror outfit Al Qaeda.
The law enforcement agencies (LEAs) traced the militants after effectively combing through the closed circuit TV (CCTV) footage garnered by various localities of the city.
The attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) legislator Khawaja Izharul Hassan was a conspiracy to discredit the police as the militants clad in police uniforms were trying to give an impression that LEAs were behind the assassination attempt, the paramilitary official informed media.
In the light of Sept 2 footage, Colonel Faisal said that one of the attackers could be seen wearing a police uniform while another Sarosh in a white T shirt.
Police chased the attackers after the attack [who] were performing their duty at a nearby mosque the official added.
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