Terror bid foiled: Security forces kill three al Qaeda men in Karachi

Round up two militants during raids in Mansehra

KARACHI: Security forces foiled a ‘terrorist attempt’ in Mansehra district on Sunday as law enforcers in Karachi killed three militants, including a leader of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces rounded up two suspected militants during two intelligence-based operations in the villages of Karebai Oghi and Charangada near Mansehra.

During the raids, a 20kg  improvised explosive device (IED) as well as grenades, pistols, an AK-47 and rockets were recovered, said the ISPR.

Separately, security forces carried out a raid on the basis of a tipoff about the presence of terrorists in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Buner neighbourhood and killed three militants who were planning major attacks in the city.

“We raided Quaidabad area’s Gulshan-e-Buner locality yesterday (Saturday) but could not find them. However, on Sunday, we mounted a crackdown once again and succeeded in hunting down the terrorists,” Malir SSP Rao Anwar told The Express Tribune.

According to police, the terrorists put up tough resistance when the law enforces laid siege to their hideout. In the subsequent firefight, the police killed all the three suspects and recovered a Kalashnikov and two pistols.

The bodies of the suspected terrorists were later moved for medico-legal formalities to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where one of the terrorists was identified as Riaz alias Raja, who, according to police, was the AQIS Karachi commander.

Security forces claimed the suspects were hatching terror plots, including plans for attacks on the convoy of Rangers’ top official, SSP Rao Anwar and the Karachi office of an intelligence agency.

“They had completed their homework to carry out attacks on these three major targets. However, we reached them before they could execute their plan,” said SSP Anwar.

According to another official, SHO Muhammad Ali Marwat, the suspects had been in involved in various cases of terrorism including killing of policemen and members of Shia community.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2016.