Police foil 105 terrorist attacks

21 plots involved suicide attacks, eight were to be conducted through IEDs

KARACHI: Sindh Police were successful in foiling 105 terrorist attacks in the first six months of the current year. The threat alerts issued by multiple intelligence agencies warned of attacks on foreign consulates, foreign engineers working for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), security forces, sensitive areas such as airports, political and religious leaders and places of worship of minorities.

Sources told The Express Tribune that terrorist elements had prepared 39 plans for attacks on government properties, sensitive areas and law enforcement agencies and a further four plans targeting places of worship of minorities. Besides, seven plans dealt with attacks on religious and political leaders.

Spate of terror attacks

Foreign consulates were also targeted as well as the cricket teams on which four attempts were plotted during the Pakistan Super League.

Sindh Police received 11 threat alerts concerning attacks on the foreign staff working for CPEC. They were also warned five times of terrorist activities targeted towards public places. In addition to these 23 other plans to conduct terrorist activities were foiled.

Of these, 31 terrorist activities were planned by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), two by Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat, eight by the Baloch Republican Army and a total of eight by India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS). A total of five threat alerts were concerned with plans of Baloch Liberation Army, five by Daesh, one by Muttahida Qaumi Movement - London (MQM-L), one form Al-Qaeda Indian sub-continent and another from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).  A plan to sabotage the peace and security in Karachi by Pashtun Tahafuz Movement was also made unsuccessful by the Sindh Police.

Speaking about the nature of the attacks, sources said that 21 plans involved suicide attacks, eight were to be conducted through Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and one dealt with releasing poisonous gas. Plans to kidnap three well-known personalities were also foiled.

Cities in interior Sindh such as Larkana, Hyderabad, Thatta and the border areas of the province were reportedly at extreme risk.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2019.