Muhammad Tufail, a member of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al Qaeda network, was identified as the second militant killed in the 10-hour siege of a suspected militant hideout near Jati Umra, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s residence.
The other militant and the first to be identified soon after the battle was over was Aqsin Mehboob; both militants hailed from district Okara and received training from Miramshah, according to intelligence officials.
Security forces killed two militants and overran their hideout located within a few kilometres of the premier’s family home in Raiwind on Thursday. This was the fourth attempt by TTP terrorists to attack Jati Umra. But the security forces were successful again in foiling this plan, like the previous attempts.
The raid was planned and conducted after receiving information from suspected terrorists a few days ago – one of them named Qari Munir.
An intelligence agency apprehended Munir, a key member of the TTP network in South Punjab, and six other members from Bahawalnagar between July 14 and July 15 and seized more than seven kilogrammes of explosive material and other detonating devices, including suicide vests.
It was during their interrogation that the intelligence agencies received the vital coordinates of where TTP militants were encircling the premier’s residence.
Another member of this network, Sharafat alias Azad Khan, was arrested from Lahore and explosive material along with detonators were seized from his possession. He, too, was trained in Miramshah.
In what appears to be a crackdown, two terrorists were also apprehended from Hujra Shah Muqeem, tehsil Depalpur in Okara on July 11, who confessed to be a TTP member and part of the al Qaeda network.
Late on Friday night, intelligence and law-enforcement agencies traced two more suspects on the basis of information gleaned from detained suspects.
They were identified as Qari Amanullah, alias Ustad Sikandar, and Hafiz Imran.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2014.
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Great work by security forces to defeat these anti state cowards! Keep it up and the cowards will just ran back to their foreign masters who pay them!