CTD claims killing notorious AQIS terrorist

Intelligence personnel of Sindh’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) gunned down an alleged notorious terrorist of the Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) in a pre-dawn shootout in Karachi on Wednesday.

CTD Karachi chief DIG Omer Shahid Hamid said that after information came from an intelligence agency in the wee hours of Wednesday that terrorists associated with the banned outfit were present in the Moachko area, directives were issued to the incharge of the CTD’s Pakistan-Based Terrorists Intelligence Group, Mazhar Mashwani, to conduct a raid.

A team raided a place in Musharraf Colony on Hawkesbay Road. On seeing the police, suspects opened fire, which was returned. After a brief encounter, one alleged terrorist was arrested in an injured condition, while his companions escaped under the cover of fire.

The injured terrorist was moved to hospital where he was pronounced dead. The police seized a pistol and a bag containing two bombs. DIG Hamid said the killed terrorist had been identified as Saeed alias Loha alias Haji alias Tora Bora, who was associated with AQIS and wanted by the police in a number of terrorism cases.

He added that the information received from the intelligence agency showed that Saeed had been sent to Karachi by AQIS commanders from Afghanistan to revive the group and conduct terrorism activities in the city.

The terrorist was said to have joined the AQIS in 2014 and was trained in Afghanistan. Later, he along with his associates Syed Mujtaba and Abdul Saboor formed a group in 2016. The group remained involved in terrorism activities that included attacks on Rangers check posts, cracker attacks on police stations and target killings of policemen and sectarian killings.

The terrorism acts committed by Saeed included a bomb attack on the Mobina Town Police Station, a bottle bomb attack on a Rangers check post near Nazimabad No. 7, another bomb attack on a Rangers post near Korangi Crossing, an attack on a Rangers post near the Furniture Market of Gharibabad, and an attack on the Gujjar Nullah Rangers check post.

The terrorist also targeted Police Constable Zahid Hussain in Liaquatabad and three Shia community members in Awami Colony. DIG Hamid said that in 2016 the CTD Sindh had an encounter with the group in Gadap Town in which Saeed’s two associates Syed Mujtaba and Abdul Saboor were killed while he himself escaped. Later, the terrorist fled to Afghanistan along with his other associates Islamuddin and Sakeel Burmi.

Moreover, intelligence reports claimed that the team of Saeed alias Loha had been planning a bomb attack with the help of drones. The CTD has expanded its network to arrest his accomplices on the run.