Malir police kill five militants

The slain men were reportedly affiliated with AQIS

KARACHI: Five suspects allegedly having ties with militant outfits were killed during an alleged encounter with the Malir police on Saturday.

Malir SSP Rao Anwar claimed the encounter took place when the police conducted a raid on a tip-off in Ayub Goth in the Sohrab Goth area. "We had information about the presence of terrorists," SSP Anwar said, adding that all the militants killed were associated with the alQaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

An exchange of fire took place between the police and terrorists when the police reached their hideout, SSP Anwar said. During the exchange of fire, five militants were killed, he added. The bodies were shifted to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth after medico-legal formalities were completed at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.



"The terrorists killed were involved in targeted killings of military personnel, police officers and minorities, and sectarian-based killings," the SSP claimed.

According to SSP Anwar, one of the slain militants was identified as Qari Habibillah alias Abdul Salaam Burmi. Habibullah had also been arrested in 2003 and was later released on bail. He also reportedly joined the Da'ish at some stage and was involved in terror activities in Karachi. The police also claimed to have recovered a huge cache of arms and explosives from the possession of the militants. Further investigations are under way.

A day before Saturday's encounter, the same police arrested at least five terrorists belonging to banned sectarian outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. One of the arrested men was a police officer's son and another was a brother of another official of Sindh police. The suspects were shifted to an undisclosed location.