On the offensive: Five militants, including a commander, killed in raid

Three Rangers personnel were also injured but are now in stable condition.

KARACHI: At least five alleged militants, including two key Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) personnel, were killed and several others were apprehended during the first major operation in Karachi since Zarb-e-Azb began.

Conducted jointly by the police and the Rangers, the area chosen for the targeted operation was Manghopir's Sultanabad; one of several militant stronghold areas.

The operation started at around 11am and continued well into the evening. Mainly led by the Rangers, Karachi's district West police were also called upon to provide a helping hand.



The operation was conducted on a tip-off about the presence of militants in the area. All entry and exit points were cordoned off during the operation and no one was allowed to come in or go out.

At least five militants were killed during exchanges of fire as militants resisted. However, it came at a cost as three Rangers' personnel were also wounded. The deceased militants and the injured security personnel were moved to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where the injured were said to be in stable conditions. The two key deceased were later identified as Fakharuddin aka Fakhro, son of Syed Taj, and Abidullah aka Abid Chotoo, according to the Rangers.

Later in the evening, a number of armed militants opened fire at the Rangers from their hideout and three more militants were killed when the law enforcers retaliated. Their bodies were also shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital but have yet to be identified.

Besides the killings, several other TTP members were also apprehended as explosives and weapons were seized from their possession.

However, since the raid had not yet ended, Rangers' officials were reluctant to divulge any information. "I cannot say anything about the killings, the arrests or the seizure of explosives and ammunitions as my personnel are still inside the area and the operation is still ongoing," a senior Rangers official told The Express Tribune. He did, however, reveal that the arrested militants have been shifted to an undisclosed location for further questioning.

Police officials, however, were more willing to talk than the Rangers were and dubbed the killings of the two key TTP members as one of the biggest successes of law enforcers. "We have managed to break the backbone of the militant groups operating in the area," claimed Manghopir SHO Muhammad Ali.

The officer said that Fakharuddin was the TTP commander for Sultanabad and Abidullah was his right-hand man. Ali added that, since the operation is still ongoing, the total number of arrested cannot yet be ascertained.

Fighting militants

Various parts of district West are considered to be strongholds of militants, including Sultanabad, Pakhtunabad, Kunwari Colony, Manghopir, Awan Colony and Mianwali Colony. Several militants have been killed and arrested from these areas in multiple raids and operations, while bomb-producing factories have also been discovered in Sultanabad, Pakhtunabad and Kunwari Colony. Two TTP operational commanders - Zohair aka Salman and Imran aka Omar aka Qari - have also been killed recently in separate encounters in Mauripur and the Cottage Industrial Area of the Muhammad Khan Colony.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2014.