Settling scores: Taliban on a killing spree in Karachi

Most victims either belonged to ANP or supported peace militias in Swat.


Sohail Khattak August 15, 2012

KARACHI:


Karachi, it seems, didn’t turn out to be a safe retreat for pro-government Pashtun leaders seeking to escape the vengeful Taliban in Swat and tribal areas – refugee-militants have begun targeting Awami National Party workers in the metropolis.


The most recent attack was on ANP Sindh central working committee member Amir Sardar, who hailed from Thana, Malakand.

Sardar, 55, who was associated with the ANP for over 30 years, was shot dead, along with two other ANP Sindh activists, near his home in SITE Town, Karachi, on Monday.

The Malakand chapter of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the killings, claiming Sardar was punished for his assistance to the police in arresting TTP men.

Sher Shah Khan, an elected representative from Swat in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly, told The Express Tribune that over 65 people hailing from Swat have been killed in Karachi in target killings, mostly at the hands of the TTP.

According to Sher Shah, militants fled to Karachi when the Pakistan Army and paramilitary forces launched an operation in Swat against the Maulana Fazalullah-led militants in 2009.

“For a year, they abandoned their activities and remained underground, but later, they started killing pro-government leaders and those who were associated with peace committees in Swat or supported security forces,” he said.

People from the Kabal Tehsil of Swat were mostly targeted as the tehsil was the birthplace of TTP-Swat.

“Since the military offensive in Swat, 36 people from Kabal Tehsil have been killed in Karachi, mostly by militants from TTP-Swat,” Sher Shah added.

He also raised the issue in the K-P Assembly. “If a military operation can be conducted in Swat, then why not in Karachi?” he said.

‘Settling scores’

Saifullah Khan, chairman of the Nekpikhel Aman Jirga in Swat, told The Express Tribune that militants began targeting influential people from Swat in May 2010, and have, so far, killed over 60 people in Karachi.

Former ANP Sindh District West president Saeed Ahmed Khan was killed in SITE Town on January 5, 2012. One of the attackers, identified as Aminullah, was killed on the spot by retaliatory fire by the police.

“Aminullah was a member of the Fazalullah group in Swat and was hiding in Karachi since the military offensive,” Saifullah said.

On June 18, Sher Ali Khan, head of Swat Quami Ittehad and Chairman Pakistan Seamen’s Union, was also killed in SITE.

“The militants have killed mainly those people who were associated with peace committees or those who supported the military operation,” Saifullah said, adding that there was no doubt that they are killing people from Swat ‘to settle score’.

‘Taliban not the only killers’

ANP Sindh General Secretary Bashir Jan, however, says the Taliban are not the only ones behind the killing of Pashtuns.

“Blaming the Taliban for every killing is not correct. There are a multiple factors involved in the target killings of Pashtuns in Karachi,” Jan told The Express Tribune.

“The Taliban have killed some of our people in Karachi but they are not responsible for all the killings,” he added.

Jan said his party has asked law enforcement agencies to provide security to its leaders in Sindh, numbering between 30 and 40. However, he added, their request is yet to be fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Chief of the Anti-Extremist Cell of the Crime Investigation Department SSP Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam Khan told The Express Tribune: “We have arrested a number of militants hailing from Swat in Karachi, who are wanted in various cases back home,” Khan said.

While admitting that militants from Swat are involved in target killings, he stressed that militants from tribal regions are far more active in Karachi.

West Zone SSP Amer Farooqi suspected that most of the target killings are preplanned and militants had come to Karachi with specific instructions and plans.

“A new trend has emerged,” he said. “They have started killing policemen to increase their personal influence, and I also think they kill each other because they support different groups.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16th, 2012. 

COMMENTS (30)

YA | 11 years ago | Reply

@ Rafiq,

Karachi was a peaceful place at my birth atleast until discrimination against the city reached the extent that it became unbearable. People came for fortune and never saw the city as their own. The local people of this city were seen as outsiders and such ideas where endorsed by many. Until there was a blow-back, thats when it started, now its a whole new ball game.

The demographic have changed in the city and while we were playing US versus THEM, the cancer of fundamentalism grew and took root in our city and I do not mean the TTP, I am referring to the mind set of the people. We are a people who would completely ignore humanity and common sense in the name of religion.

And we will cry about and say, this is not Islamic; if Islam was practiced this would not happen, these people are not Muslims, these people do not know about Islam, we need to practice the sunnah.

Please pay attention to what the fundamentalists are saying, their claim is exactly the same, there is minimal difference between people who say the above and fundamentalists, the only differences is that the fundamentalists are willing to take or give their life for their cause.

In the end I can only say this for myself: If a religion is not compatible with compassion I will not follow it, if it does not show mercy to the weak I will not follow it, If it discriminates I will not follow it, if it takes pushes people away from humanity I will not follow it, if teaches dogma over logic and reason I will not follow it. If it incites hatred I will not follow it. I WILL NOT FOLLOW IT NO MATTER WHAT RELIGION IT IS......

rafiq | 11 years ago | Reply

@aysha: when was the last time karachi called as a peasefull place definatly before ur birth ?????

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