CTD issues 9th edition of Red Book with names of 93 new terrorists

The provincial Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), after a lapse of four years, has announced the 9th addition of the “Red Book” that contains the names of terrorists wanted by the Pakistan government, especially by the Sindh government, in a number of cases of terrorism cases, including suicide attacks.

The book had been issued by the CTD Sindh’s chief, Omar Shahid Hamid. The new addition contains the names of notorious terrorists, including commanders and terrorists associated with Daesh.

Talking to The News on Thursday, DIG Hamid said Pakistan is in a state of war, and at the moment it is facing internal and external threats, including the challenge of terrorism.

Keeping in view the bomb blasts, suicide attacks and those trying to destabilise national security, it had been decided to upgrade the Red Book having the names of those terrorists who were working against the state, he added.

He said the latest addition of the Red Book had been finalised after four years of the issuance of the 8th addition. In the 9th addition, he noted, they had upgraded it with the names of terrorists associated with banned international organisation ISIS as well as the names of those nationalist groups which were involved in anti-state activities.

Moreover, the 9th edition of the Red Book it contains the names of terrorists belonging to banned organisations, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Mohammad, Daesh, Al-Qaeda, Sindh Revolution Army (SRA), Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), besides Lyari gang war and other groups.

The 9th addition has included the names of 93 new terrorists, including those belonging to Daesh and nationalist groups. It contains the names of 12 terrorists of Daesh, 18 from Al-Qaeda, 23 of the TTP, four from Ansarul Sharia, 13 from the LeJ, two of Jundullah, 24 of the Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan, four of the Sindh Revolution Army, five from the BLA and 33 from the Lyari gang war.

The details of the terrorists have been mentioned with their head money in millions announced by the Pakistan government. They are wanted on charges of attacking a former prime minister, ex-president of Pakistan General (retd) Prevez Musharraf, and members of the Ismaili community in a bus in Safoora, besides carrying out bomb blast cases reported in the province and elsewhere in the country in the past years.

Moreover, 10 of the terrorists named in the 8th edition of the Red Book have been arrested, and seven killed – five in Pakistan and one each in Afghanistan and Syria.

DIG Hamid said the basic objective of issuing this book was to develop information of terrorists involved in terrorism acts and to share the info with other the CTDs of Punjab, KPK and Balochistan so that joint efforts were made to eliminate the terrorists working against the state.

He said they had also planned to write a letter to the Pakistan government and request its authorities to direct the National Database Registration Authority for blocking of the CNICs of terrorists whose names had been mentioned in the Red Book.