A series of small operations preceded Raddul Fasaad

ISLAMABAD: It was within the radius of a few kilometers from the military headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi that a small cell of militants established a hideout for what could have been a devastating attack. 

The plan seemed to be storming the sensitive installations and personalities linked to the armed forces. But before they could succeed, a secret watch by spy agents led to their arrest. Before opting for operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, military conducted close to a dozen small-scale secret operations in past 24 months. 

In a secret action named “Operation Khurasaan”, Pakistan military arrested 13 militants of the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) from Chah Sultan, some five kilometers away from General Headquarter Rawalpindi, according to confidential documents this correspondent has exclusively gained access to. 

The nabbed terrorists, who were planning to hit sensitive installations, belonged to a shadowy group of several hundred men who were operating in North and South Waziristan. The operators of military learnt that the JuA, previously known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Mohmand chapter) led by Commander Abdul Wali alias Qamar Khalid Khurasani has increased its activities manifold in Punjab particularly in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. 

The JuA initially started with minting of extortion/ransom money from Mohammad-based well off individuals engaged in auto spare parts business in Chah Sultan and Glass factor areas of Rawalpindi, as these areas are predominantly inhabited by individuals hailing from tribal areas particularly from Mohmand Agency. Later on, they kept on expanding their organization, focusing on other areas as well. 

These militants were identified as Khaliq Jan, Momin Khan, Bilal alias Yaseen, Bakht Jamal, Ghulam Qadir, Shahenshah, Ajmal Khan, Rehman Khan, Momin Khan, Suleman Khan, Murad Khan, Azam Khan and Fazal-e-Rabi. 

It was feared that militant groups like ultra extremist group Islamic State (Daesh) and JuA might be seeking deep penetration into the heartland of Punjab which prompted authorities into launching the operation named Rad-ul-Fasad. “Pakistan is passing through a delicate phase in history where internal and external, covert and overt threats have worsen the already fragile and deteriorating law and order situation of the country. Law and order situation in areas of resistance is dicey and it has the history of sectarian/terrorism violence. The influx of Afghan nationals and FATA settlers in last one decade has further complicated the situation. The terrorists/anti-state elements have footprints in all areas of risk,” revealed the documents, which were denied neither by the military nor by intelligence agencies when The News approached them for comments. 

In its secret offensive called 'Operation Fox Hunt', the forces arrested a militant who was planning to target sensitive security installations —including Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Wah, Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) and Heavy Mechanical Complex (HMC). He migrated from Afghanistan to Pakistan some 10 to 12 years ago. He was settled in a small village called Haji Shah in Tehsil Hazro of district Attock. He then illegally obtained computerised national identity card and then travel documents from the directorate of immigration and passports office. Then he got married with a Pakistani woman whose father was employed at a sensitive position in the POF. Then he started performing duties of Imam Masjid in this village. Later, he established an English Language Institute in Attock. He got penetration into sensitive institution, has vast ingress in government departments and private sector. He maintained his links with Taliban in Afghanistan and facilitated other Afghans for getting Pakistani travel documents. 

In yet another similar operation named 'Operation Khan' two suspects were apprehended in connection with suicide attack on late Col (retd) Shuja Khanzada on Sep 2, 2015 the documents continued to reveal. One of suspects was Asif Mahmood who is an employee of POF Sanjwal and has close contact with militants/LeJ elements and extending facilitation to these elements with help of Muhammad Irfan. 

Forces launched 'Operation Mirza' on October 16, 2015 with a view to apprehending militants who have a history of involvement in terrorism and can plan/conduct terrorist activities in Rawalpindi. These terrorists who had link with LeJ/TTP are: Khalid Mahmood, Atta-ur-Rehman, Muhammad Noman, Faizan, Qari Kosir Ali, Qari Zubair, Mamoon Khan and Shams-ur-Rehman. 

The military on November 23, 2015 successfully apprehended a suspect from Attock city namely Umer Zahid in 'Operation Paracha.'  Then in another operation named 'Operation Annexes', two suspects, who facilitated militants of the area by transporting their weapons, ammunition and explosive etc., were arrested on August 6, 2016. They were providing safe heavens to militants in Tehsil Jand. They were named Farooq Ali and Tayyab Waqas.  In another operation called 'Operation Lancer,' military arrested Muhammad Mushtaq, Muhammad Sabir Amjad and Bakhtiar Ahmed on Aug 25, 2015. They have links with diehard terrorist/militant organizations namely TTP/TTM/JUA.  The military have also arrested five terrorists in operations Thunder, Hangu and Junction during this period, the documents revealed.