Safe for now: Police foil planned attack, kill two militants

The men were caught attempting to transport explosives.

KARACHI:

Law enforcement agencies claim to have foiled a potential terror attack on polio vaccination teams by killing two alleged militants and recovering explosive materials from their possession.

The two alleged militants were killed during an exchange of fire when the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC), in collaboration with the Sohrab Goth police, conducted a raid on a tip-off at Ganna Mandi near Macchar Colony within the limits of the Sohrab Goth police station in the early hours of Sunday.

"The encounter took place when six militants were transporting explosives in a CNG rickshaw," said Sohrab Goth DSP Qamar Ahmed, while talking to The Express Tribune. "Two of them were travelling in a rickshaw and the rest of them were in a car."

DSP Ahmed added that, upon seeing the police, the militants opened fire and tried to escape. The police then fired back and two of the militants were killed as a result. However, the others managed to escape under the cover of firing.

Police officials also claimed to have recovered a CNG rickshaw, around 10 kilogrammes of explosive material, two hand grenades and a TT pistol. The bodies of the militants were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where they were identified as Qamar Zaman and Moosa Khan; both residents of Sohrab Goth. "Apparently, they wanted to make a rickshaw-borne improvised explosive device," DSP Ahmed explained.

Officials of the AVCC claimed that the militants had intended to carry out an attack on polio teams in Sohrab Goth or its surrounding areas. "We had a tip-off that some militants are planning to target the polio teams," AVCC official Aslam Baloch told The Express Tribune. "Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the area, we collaborated with the area police to carry out an operation against the militants."

The city police chief, AIG Ghulam Qadir Thebo, said that the deceased militants were involved in previous attacks on polio teams, as well as targeted killings of over 60 cops. "It is a big achievement," he said. "We have started the polio drive and are hopeful that it will be completed without any untoward incident."

A three-day polio campaign was launched on Sunday in around 38 highly sensitive union councils, including Sohrab Goth. Polio teams working in the affected areas seemed happy over the police action but feared that this may not have been the only attack planned. "There are a number of militants and anyone can attack us," said a member of the polio team on the condition of anonymity. "Now, the law enforcers should take further precautions as the militants may attack us."

The areas surrounding Sohrab Goth have a history of polio attacks and are infamous for housing militants. A majority of the people that live in these areas belong to the Mehsud tribe, while the remaining are Akakhel, Mohmand, Afghanis and people from Quetta.

The police and other agencies have enhanced their intelligence network in the city in order to avoid any untoward incident, particularly after the brazen attack by militants at the Jinnah International Airport that claimed 28 innocent lives, including 12 personnel of the Airport Security Force (ASF) and Pakistan International Airlines.

This was the first major raid since the airport attack. Earlier on June 10, the Rangers had conducted a targeted raid in Taliban's stronghold area; Kunwari Colony in Manghopir and recovered a huge cache of explosives. However, no arrests were made. "Since the airport attack, we are conducting raids and arresting suspects on a daily basis and a grand operation is likely to take place soon," claimed DSP Ahmed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2014.