Lahore varsity professor, niece arrested in Karachi for 'Islamic State links'

The network was planning to use surveillance drones fitted with explosives to carry out attacks

KARACHI: Security forces have smashed a clandestine network of a local franchise of the Middle Eastern terrorist group, Islamic State – also known by its Arabic acronym Da’ish – in Karachi, The Express Tribune learnt on Monday, though there was no official confirmation.

According to sources, the Da’ish network was planning attacks with the help of surveillance drones fitted with explosives. The network was run by a professor of engineering at a top university in Lahore.

The professor and a woman – who is said to be his niece – were taken into custody during a raid by security forces in District East of Karachi. The identity of the detained pair was not immediately known.

When approached for confirmation, the head of Sindh police’s Counter-Terrorism Department, AIG Sanaullah Abbasi, denied any such raid or arrest.

Pakistani officials have repeatedly denied organised presence of Da’ish in the country, though the group has claimed credit for several deadly attacks.

The group said it had carried out Friday’s brazen suicide attack on Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, the deputy chairman Senate, in Mastung district of Balochistan that killed 25 people.

Last month, a medical student from Hyderabad who was arrested after her husband was killed in an encounter in Lahore had visited Syria after leaving her home in February to join Da’ish.

Naureen Leghari, a student of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, admitted in a confessional video that the group was planning attacks in the country.