Azizabad bust: Arms meant to wage civil war, says IG

Weapons were recovered from a 10-by-10 feet tank of 120-square-yard house

KARACHI: The arms and ammunitions recovered in what the police termed the ‘biggest bust’ in the history of Sindh were to be used in a ‘civil war’ against the state, said Sindh IG Allah Dino Khawaja on Saturday.

In an interview with Express News, IG Khawaja said that ‘terrorists’ wanted to use the weapons to create unrest in the city and wage a war against the state.

The police captured on Wednesday a huge cache of arms, including anti-aircraft guns, assault and sniper rifles, light- and sub-machines guns, rocket launchers and ammunition running into hundreds and thousands, as well as tactical gears hidden in a customized 10-by-10 feet tank of a 120-square-yard house in Azizabad.

The police chief hailed the raid and said that a big threat to the city was thwarted with the recovery. He also referred to a similar arms bust in Nawabshah and said that a terror bid for Muharram was also foiled. He, however, maintained that terrorism threats were still lingering in Karachi, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Nawabshah, Jacobabad, Larkana and Shikarpur and public support was needed to fight them. The police cannot fight terrorists alone, he said, adding that the public should also come forward playing their role as responsible citizens and inform the law enforcers about any suspicious activity they observe.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has said that the arms cache recovered from a house located close to the headquarters of a political party in the city has raised many questions, resulting in people pointing fingers of accusation.

He was talking to media at a house in Defence Housing Authority, where he had gone to offer condolence on Saturday. He said that he had ordered a through inquiry into the recovery of arms from a house in Azizabad. “The house is close to the headquarters of a party, [which is why] people are raising questions about the ownership of the weapons dumped there,” he said, adding that things will be clear crystal when inquiry is finalised.

No other way out: Bans needed to fight terrorism

Sindh IG Allah Dino Khawaja was of the view that the bans enforced during the month of Muharram were needed to ensure security and fight terrorism.

He was talking to Express News in an interview. Talking about the ban on pillion riding that started from Saturday evening and will continue till Muharram 11, he said that though these kinds of prohibitions cause inconvenience to the public, there was no other way out. Most of the targeted killings and other terrorism activities are carried out using motorcycles, which is why a ban on pillion riding for a specific time is crucial and helps a lot in taking the crime graph down, he said. He explained that the ban had to be enforced earlier than planned this year because of the targeted attacks that happened in Gulsitan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan Iqbal Friday night, in which one person was killed and three others were injured.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2016.