Quetta in focus: ‘Terrorists killed in encounter belonged to LeJ’

One of the militants has been identified as spokesperson for the banned outfit.

QUETTA: Two terrorists killed in an encounter near Hazara Town on Monday have been identified as key members of the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

The group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks targeting Shia Muslims in the province.

“They belonged to LJ and were identified as Hafiz Naseer and Hafiz Wazir Ali alias Ali Sher Haideri, the spokesperson of the banned outfit,” city police officer Amir Mohammad Dasti told The Express Tribune on Tuesday, adding that the government had earlier announced a bounty on Hafiz Naseer.

According to police, the LJ spokesperson had introduced himself as Ali Sher Haideri to the media while claiming responsibilities for several sectarian target killings in Quetta.

“Several cell phone numbers of media outfits were recovered from them,” an official told the media.

According to official sources, a DNA sample of the terrorists had also been sent to Islamabad to confirm their identities while their bodies were being kept at a morgue in Bolan Medical College (BMC) Teaching Hospital. The relatives of the suspects had identified the bodies as Ali Murad, a resident of Mach and Gul Jan, a resident of Dalbandin.

Earlier, Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani announced half a million rupees for the police party which took part in the operation, in addition to promising them a promotion to next rank.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2012.