Tawheed Brigade: New militant group possibly behind naval officer, lawyer’s killings
Online presence limited to a few posts in extremist discussion forums.
KARACHI:
A new militant group appears to have emerged in Karachi with two high-profile target killings — of a naval officer and a lawyer — under its belt.
While the deaths were earlier assumed to be part of the regular pattern of target killings, the group claims to have targeted the men for their own ideological reasons.
The group - called the Pasban-e-Tawheed or Tawheed Brigade - posted messages on several extremist discussion forums online to claim responsibility. It claimed that its members had killed Pakistan naval official Lieutenant Commander Nasir Nafees, who was shot dead in North Karachi along with a friend while he was visiting his mother on the first day of Eidul Fitr. The second victim is lawyer Mukhtiar Abbasi, who was gunned down on July 25 while returning from the City Court.
Police investigators were unable to establish the motive behind the killing of the naval officer, while they believed that advocate Mukhtiar Abbasi, who used to deal with sectarian cases involving the banned Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan, was killed by members of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, which is also proscribed.
CID’s Anti-Extremism Cell chief SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan said that there are some leads about the high-profile murders. “There is no doubt that this group exists,” he explained. “However, we need to confirm whether this group is involved or not.” According to Khan, Pasban-e-Tawheed may have carried out other high-profile killings and criminal activities but he could not disclose any other details since the investigation is still underway.
Pakistan Navy DG PR Irfanul Haq told The Express Tribune that an inquiry team has already been formed to probe Nafees’ killing and it would premature to say anything until the investigation finalised.
Karachi Bar Association president Mohammad Aqil criticised the performance of law enforcement agencies and said the police investigators had apparently failed to arrest any suspects who were involved in the murders of lawyers. He said the police only arrested the killers of two lawyers including Ahmed Chinoy and Sardar Zulfiqar.
Evident motives
Pasban-e-Tawheed’s online messages make its motives of killing Nafees and Abbasi clear. In a post claiming responsibility for Nafees’ death, the group dubs the army as a ‘Western proxy’ and warns that it will make their “life a living hell”. The group also mocked the reward amount announced by the government for information on Nafees’ killers.
As far as Abbasi’s killing is concerned, the message explains that it was for his work as a defence attorney for Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan.
In the past few years, there have been several attacks carried out by terrorist organisations, targeting individual officers and military bases, including the PNS Mehran base in Karachi. Pasban-e-Tawheed’s ‘Karachi wing’ warns that it will continue to target army officers “in every street and alley, whether individually or in groups”.
The messages were posted on several discussion forums in English, Urdu and Arabic. Little is known about the group and they appear to have minimal online presence. They do not appear to have been mentioned on jihadist websites and forums prior to these two postings. On one discussion forum, users have posted messages asking for more information about the group.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2011.
A new militant group appears to have emerged in Karachi with two high-profile target killings — of a naval officer and a lawyer — under its belt.
While the deaths were earlier assumed to be part of the regular pattern of target killings, the group claims to have targeted the men for their own ideological reasons.
The group - called the Pasban-e-Tawheed or Tawheed Brigade - posted messages on several extremist discussion forums online to claim responsibility. It claimed that its members had killed Pakistan naval official Lieutenant Commander Nasir Nafees, who was shot dead in North Karachi along with a friend while he was visiting his mother on the first day of Eidul Fitr. The second victim is lawyer Mukhtiar Abbasi, who was gunned down on July 25 while returning from the City Court.
Police investigators were unable to establish the motive behind the killing of the naval officer, while they believed that advocate Mukhtiar Abbasi, who used to deal with sectarian cases involving the banned Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan, was killed by members of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, which is also proscribed.
CID’s Anti-Extremism Cell chief SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan said that there are some leads about the high-profile murders. “There is no doubt that this group exists,” he explained. “However, we need to confirm whether this group is involved or not.” According to Khan, Pasban-e-Tawheed may have carried out other high-profile killings and criminal activities but he could not disclose any other details since the investigation is still underway.
Pakistan Navy DG PR Irfanul Haq told The Express Tribune that an inquiry team has already been formed to probe Nafees’ killing and it would premature to say anything until the investigation finalised.
Karachi Bar Association president Mohammad Aqil criticised the performance of law enforcement agencies and said the police investigators had apparently failed to arrest any suspects who were involved in the murders of lawyers. He said the police only arrested the killers of two lawyers including Ahmed Chinoy and Sardar Zulfiqar.
Evident motives
Pasban-e-Tawheed’s online messages make its motives of killing Nafees and Abbasi clear. In a post claiming responsibility for Nafees’ death, the group dubs the army as a ‘Western proxy’ and warns that it will make their “life a living hell”. The group also mocked the reward amount announced by the government for information on Nafees’ killers.
As far as Abbasi’s killing is concerned, the message explains that it was for his work as a defence attorney for Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan.
In the past few years, there have been several attacks carried out by terrorist organisations, targeting individual officers and military bases, including the PNS Mehran base in Karachi. Pasban-e-Tawheed’s ‘Karachi wing’ warns that it will continue to target army officers “in every street and alley, whether individually or in groups”.
The messages were posted on several discussion forums in English, Urdu and Arabic. Little is known about the group and they appear to have minimal online presence. They do not appear to have been mentioned on jihadist websites and forums prior to these two postings. On one discussion forum, users have posted messages asking for more information about the group.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2011.