Karachi operation: With limited resources, police struggle to counter terrorism

LEAs fear backlash of the Waziristan operation will affect Karachi most.

KARACHI: The blatant attack at the Karachi Airport on June 8 has certainly put the law enforcers' claims about the successes of the Karachi operation into perspective. Senior officials have repeatedly patted themselves on the backs for having 'effectively reduced crime rate' in the restive city. The brazen attack at the country's largest airport has, however, cast serious doubt over these tall claims.

For their part, the law enforcement agencies claim they will now be focusing on tackling the issue of 'terrorism' to avoid further backlash of the military operation in Waziristan, The Express Tribune has learnt. "We had been anticipating a backlash since the start of the peace talks between the government and militants and are fully prepared for it," Sindh IGP Iqbal Mehmood told The Express Tribune. "We are strictly monitoring all arrivals and activities in Karachi and taking action against militants on a regular basis."

In reality, however, there have been no concrete steps taken to avert such attacks in the future yet. The city police chief, AIGP Ghulam Qadir Thebo, maintained that the police could not ensure fool-proof security to the city given the lack of resources. "Illegal weapons and immigrants continue to pour into the city," he lamented. "We cannot guarantee we will be able to put an end to such incidents as the city is too big to be controlled by a police with such limited strength and resources." He added, however, that the police were trying their best under the prevailing circumstances. "We have changed our strategy and countering terrorism is now our top priority."

Look past the obvious rhetoric and the picture looks bleaker than is being painted. Law enforcement agencies claim to have apprehended over 25,000 suspects and killed around 300 alleged criminals in encounters in the last eight months of the operation. Interestingly, due to the lack of proper investigation or evidence against the detained suspects, only around 1,000 suspects are currently behind bars. The remaining suspects have been released.

"In the eight months of the operation, the police did not make concerted efforts to combat terrorism despite the frequent attacks in which around 100 personnel lost their lives," a senior police official told The Express Tribune.

Recently, Pakistan's top military and civilian leadership put their heads together to review the law and order situation in Karachi at a meeting at Governor House. This was the first time that the army chief attended such a high-level meeting with the civilian leadership on the issue of unrest in Karachi.

According to sources, the authorities are preparing for the arrival of militants in Karachi due to the operation in Waziristan. "In the last operation carried out in the tribal areas during the tenure of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the militants had escaped to Karachi and settled here," a military official explained, on the condition of anonymity. "This time, they already have a strong presence in Karachi and are reorganising themselves as more militants arrive from Waziristan."

The official feared that the militants will attempt to sabotage the Waziristan operation by carrying out attacks in Karachi. "During the period between the last operation and the current one, they have reorganised themselves in Karachi."

Police and Rangers have been targeted on several occasions by the militants. Rangers have been more actively involved in taking action against the militants compared to the police. "We are already taking action against them (militants) and the recent attacks on our personnel were a testimony to that fact," said the Rangers spokesperson. "We have killed a number of terrorists and will continue operations against them."

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2014.