Ansarul Sharia Pakistan chief among eight terrorists gunned down

Eight Ansarul Sharia Pakistan (ASP) terrorists, including the outfit’s chief, were gunned down early on Sunday in the outskirts of the city. Two Rangers soldiers and a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) official were also injured in the shootout.

Later in the day, Colonel Faisal Awan of the paramilitary force conducted a media briefing at the Rangers Headquarters with the CTD’s DIG Aamir Farooqi to disclose the details of the operation.

The Rangers had received information during the wee hours that some terrorists were holed up in Baldia Town, following which they shared the report with other agencies, including the CTD.

Planning to raid the hideout, the paramilitary soldiers set out for the town along with CTD officials. Spotting the team approach the hideaway in Raees Goth, the terrorists opened fire and wounded two Rangers soldiers and a CTD official.

The paramilitary and counterterrorism officials launched a retaliatory attack in which they engaged the terrorists for more than an hour. By the time the shootout ended, five terrorists had been gunned down and three wounded, but the latter succumbed to their injuries on the way to the hospital.

The dead terrorists included Shaharyaruddin Warsi, alias Dr Abdullah Hashmi, chief of the ASP and mastermind of every terrorist attack carried out by the group, as well as Arsalan Baig, member of the outfit’s target killing team.

The officials also found sophisticated weapons, spy cameras, laptops, recording devices, mobile phones and several documents on the terrorists. Forensic reports suggest that the weapons confiscated during the raid were used by the group in earlier attacks.  

September 2 attack

The journalists were also shown footage of the attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MPA Izharul Hassan. DIG Aamir Farooqi told them that the September 2 attack carried out in Buffer Zone was a “grave conspiracy to discredit the police and other agencies”.

Hassan, leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, had escaped unhurt in the attack that was carried out on Eidul Azha. However, four others were injured in the incident.

Pointing out the attackers on the screen, Farooqi said Hasaan was in a police uniform while Sarosh was wearing a T-shirt, adding that at the time of the attack, law enforcers were posted on security duty at a nearby imambargah and they had run out after they heard gunshots.

He said the policemen were running on foot to catch the attackers, adding that it was later discovered that three of the attackers were associated with the ASP. “The assailants had tried to portray that the police or the government were involved in the attack.”

Farooqi said that many intelligence reports and evidences regarding the ASP surfaced following the incident, adding that a raid on Sarosh’s house had yielded a laptop, mobile phones, video footage, video recording devices, recce plans and hate literature, but the man had escaped in an injured condition.

A small organisation

Colonel Faisal Awan said the ASP was a small organisation of about 12 to 15 members, six to eight of whom were members of the outfit’s target killing team, while the remaining provided backup and funding.

He confirmed that the terrorist group’s chief, Shaharyaruddin Warsi, had been killed in the raid, and that four terrorists had managed to escape. Besides Warsi and Arsalan Baig, he identified the other dead terrorists as Mehrul Haq, Saad Jamal, Hasaan Haroon, Talha Ansari, Kamran Riaz and Abu Bakr.

He said raids were under way to locate the four terrorists – identified as Danish Rashid, Junaid Rashid, Sarosh and Muzammil – who had managed to escape during the operation.

Describing the background of the ASP, he said the group had launched its activities in the city in February, when they targeted a policeman in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, adding that Warsi had planned the attack, while Muzammil, Sarosh and Hasaan had conducted the recce.

In April they had targeted Colonel (retired) Ziaullah Nagi, the plan for which was devised by Warsi, while Sarosh, Muzammil and Hasaan had carried out the attack, following which the group declared its affiliation with al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

The next month three police officers were targeted in Bahadurabad, and in June four more policemen were targeted in Site Area as they were breaking their fast. The group was also responsible for targeting DSP Hanif Khan in Azizabad, and then two police officials near the Northern Bypass in August. Later that month, the group targeted two guards of the Federal Board of Revenue.

Colonel Awan said Muzammil, Sarosh, Danish, Baig and Hasaan were directly involved in all of the attacks, and their last attack was on the MQM-P’s Khawaja Izharul Hassan. He claimed that the ASP had carried out recce for further attacks on police checkpoints and markets.  

No teachers involved

Awan said that all the terrorists had been educated at institutions in the city and gone on to receive training in terrorism at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, adding that they were “ideologically linked to the AQIS”.

However, he clarified, no educational institution or their teacher was involved in the ASP’s terrorist activities. He pointed out that while the terrorists had studied at educational institutions, any terrorist activity they had conducted was only after completing their education. He also clarified that no terrorist training cell was set up at any educational institution in the city.  

Potential future targets

The Rangers official identified the terrorists’ future targets as the police checkpoint in Gulberg, the Rangers’ post in Dalmia, the Aziz Bhatti Chowki, the police kiosk near the Baitul Mukarram Masjid, the Sunday bazaar and the Aladin Park.

According to him, the terrorists’ hit list also included the names of the officials who participated in the Karachi operation, including the officials of the investigation agencies.

He said that in addition to targeting law enforcement officials, the ASP was involved in radicalising the youth and had drawn up a detailed plan for the purpose.

He disclosed to the media that the people close to the militants had been interrogated and that it had become clear that none of their family members knew of their involvement in such activities.

At the end of the briefing, DIG Farooqi said they were hunting for the four terrorists who had escaped, adding that they could escape to Balochistan, for which they had already contacted the officials there. In response to a query, he said the involvement of foreign agencies, either to fund them or provide other support, could not be ruled out.