‘Operation Karachi’: Swoop against militant, sectarian outfits soon
Intelligence agencies say as many as 19 groups are active in the city.
ISLAMABAD:
Intelligence agencies are learnt to have identified as many as two dozen extremist militant and sectarian outfits operating in Karachi who may face a crackdown once the hunt for politically-backed target killers is over.
An official said on Sunday extremist organisations will be targeted in the next phase.
“This proposal is under consideration,” briefly remarked a senior official of the Interior Minister without specifying whether it would be conducted by Rangers or regular troops.
According to a report compiled by intelligence agencies, as many as 19 groups — five of them run by Shias — were active in the city and their associates were involved in bomb explosions and murders.
In some cases, the report added, there was a nexus between criminal elements and extremist outfits, which made things even more complicated.
Among the groups active in Karachi, the biggest is Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), an anti-Shia sectarian outfit involved in mass murder and improvised attacks on minority groups, including Ahmadis. It has a strong known al Qaeda link.
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), of which the LeJ is an offshoot, Harkat-e-Jihad-e-Islami, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan/al Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al Alami, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Jund Allah, Tehreek Islami Lashkar-e-Muhammadi, Sunni Tehreek and Lashkar-e-Islami are the other Sunni groups active in Karachi.
Among Shia militant outfits are: Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP), Imamia Student Organisation (ISO), Tehreek-e-Jaffaria Pakistan, Mehdi Militia and Hezbollah.
Intelligence operatives are unsure about the exact number of individuals actively associated with these organisations but said they might be in thousands.
Officials, both in Islamabad and Karachi, said the presence of these groups in the city and their ‘working relationship’ with the criminals warranted swift and timely action by law enforcement agencies.
Last month, the government ordered a crackdown against target killers allegedly nurtured by three main political parties – the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP).
The decision came after top military commanders expressed concern about the law and order situation in the country’s most populous city.
Officials said ‘those at the helm of affairs’ wanted to take the ongoing operations in Karachi to its logical end and that was possible only when everyone involved in all kinds of violence were targeted.
An official of the Sindh metropolis’ Crime Investigation Department (CID) verified that the agency had been asked to prepare new lists detailing sectarian and militant organisations.
This might be an indication of a crackdown against them, the official added.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2011.
Intelligence agencies are learnt to have identified as many as two dozen extremist militant and sectarian outfits operating in Karachi who may face a crackdown once the hunt for politically-backed target killers is over.
An official said on Sunday extremist organisations will be targeted in the next phase.
“This proposal is under consideration,” briefly remarked a senior official of the Interior Minister without specifying whether it would be conducted by Rangers or regular troops.
According to a report compiled by intelligence agencies, as many as 19 groups — five of them run by Shias — were active in the city and their associates were involved in bomb explosions and murders.
In some cases, the report added, there was a nexus between criminal elements and extremist outfits, which made things even more complicated.
Among the groups active in Karachi, the biggest is Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), an anti-Shia sectarian outfit involved in mass murder and improvised attacks on minority groups, including Ahmadis. It has a strong known al Qaeda link.
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), of which the LeJ is an offshoot, Harkat-e-Jihad-e-Islami, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan/al Qaeda, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al Alami, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Jund Allah, Tehreek Islami Lashkar-e-Muhammadi, Sunni Tehreek and Lashkar-e-Islami are the other Sunni groups active in Karachi.
Among Shia militant outfits are: Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP), Imamia Student Organisation (ISO), Tehreek-e-Jaffaria Pakistan, Mehdi Militia and Hezbollah.
Intelligence operatives are unsure about the exact number of individuals actively associated with these organisations but said they might be in thousands.
Officials, both in Islamabad and Karachi, said the presence of these groups in the city and their ‘working relationship’ with the criminals warranted swift and timely action by law enforcement agencies.
Last month, the government ordered a crackdown against target killers allegedly nurtured by three main political parties – the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP).
The decision came after top military commanders expressed concern about the law and order situation in the country’s most populous city.
Officials said ‘those at the helm of affairs’ wanted to take the ongoing operations in Karachi to its logical end and that was possible only when everyone involved in all kinds of violence were targeted.
An official of the Sindh metropolis’ Crime Investigation Department (CID) verified that the agency had been asked to prepare new lists detailing sectarian and militant organisations.
This might be an indication of a crackdown against them, the official added.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2011.