No high-value terrorist held in crackdown on undocumented aliens
The law enforcement agencies working against undocumented immigrants in Karachi have reportedly failed to apprehend significant figures linked to terrorism. Despite the crackdown on illegal Afghan immigrants, it seems that the authorities have not been successful in capturing key suspects associated with terrorism.
This suggests a gap or limitation in the law enforcement efforts, raising questions about the effectiveness of the operation in targeting individuals with potential links to security threats.
The Karachi police has remained busy hunting for undocumented aliens in different parts of the city since November 1, as a crackdown has been initiated in Pakistan against illegal Afghan immigrants.
During this operation a significant number of Afghans have voluntarily returned to Afghanistan or migrated to other countries. Thousands have been apprehended by the security forces and repatriated to Afghanistan. However, the question arises: has there been any success in capturing high-profile Afghan Taliban or terrorists during this crackdown?
The crackdown is being held in various parts of the city, particularly in Sohrab Goth and its surrounding areas where Afghans live in majority. As of now, the Karachi police have not made any claims regarding the arrest of any high-profile Afghan-origin terrorist or criminal during the 11-day crackdown.
However, police have asserted that they have apprehended hundreds of undocumented Afghans, and have claimed to be verifying the status of thousands of aliens during this operation.
The lack of specific claims regarding the arrest of high-profile individuals may suggest that the focus of the operation has primarily been on addressing the issue of undocumented immigrants, rather than targeting known terrorists or criminals of Afghan origin.
“So far we have not arrested any high-profile Afghan-origin terrorist during the 11-day-long crackdown, but we are verifying the details of several Afghans over suspicions of their involvement in terror activities or being linked to terror outfits,” said Sohrab Goth SP Uzair Ahmed while talking to The News.
“We also conducted a crackdown on Saturday and took 10 undocumented aliens into custody, shifting them to the holding camp, while we also verified the documents of around 500 aliens.”
It should be noted here that the caretaker government’s decision to initiate the crackdown was based on the perception that there had been an increasing level of direct involvement of Afghanistan or Afghan nationals in terrorism within Pakistan.
Two days ago, speaking at a news conference, interim prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar again highlighted that Pakistan had witnessed a 60 per cent increase in terror attacks and a 500 per cent rise in suicide bombings, with 15 Afghans found involved in these attacks, since the Taliban government took over Afghanistan on August 15, 2021.
The crackdown on undocumented aliens continued on Saturday as the operation was also conducted in parts of Sohrab Goth and District Keamari targeting non-citizen residents, leading to the apprehension of several people.
In District Keamari, Ittehad Town’s Muhammad Khan Colony was the focus of the police operation against undocumented foreign nationals, and several undocumented aliens were taken into custody, then transferred to Sultanabad Haji Camp for further investigation.
Moreover, a search operation was also conducted in Jamali Goth. Several people were taken into custody during the operation. Those possessing the appropriate papers are being released, while others will be relocated to Haji Camp.
