Police killed four suspected Taliban militants in Muzaffargarh on Saturday, thwarting a major terrorist plot in the district and ending a six-month-long hunt for a group responsible for a string of terrorist activities in southern Punjab.
The operation, which began early morning in the Fazil Kaloro rural area of the district, was conducted by Muzaffargarh police and Elite Force personnel under the supervision of intelligence agencies, and ended after an hour-long gunfight.
“We received information from intelligence officials about the movement of militants in the area. The gunfight started when police signalled a car to stop for checks and militants fired at the cops,” Muzaffargarh District Police Officer (DPO) Rai Zamirul Haq said.
“In the exchange of fire, we killed four militants. Two police officials were also injured by two grenades hurled at them by the militants,” he added. Entry and exit points in the area had been sealed off by police a day prior to the operation.
According to DPO Haq, the dead suspects belonged to Punjabi Taliban’s Abu-Ubaida group. “We had received confirmed intelligence reports about their planned activities,” Haq said. “Their next target was the tomorrow’s (Sunday’s) Chehlum procession in Muzaffargarh,” he told The Express Tribune.
Heavy weapons and explosives, including four suicide jackets, 12 rockets, 40 hand grenades and 328 kilogrammes of gunpowder were recovered from the suspects’ possession, police said. They also found chemicals for potential use in an attack stored in the militants’ vehicle, which were also confiscated for further investigation.
Photographs of senior military officials stationed in South Punjab and documents containing their complete bio-data were also found in the suspects’ possession along with uniforms of the Pakistan Army, according to Haq.
“By seizing such a large quantity of weapons and explosives and killing these militants, we have foiled a major attempt of terror in the region,” he said.
Police officials said two of the slain suspects belonged to Multan. The other two came from Karachi and Dera Ghazi Khan, they added. According to DPO Haq, all four of them were responsible for most of the robberies and kidnappings – including that of National Assembly Deputy Secretary Moazzam Ali Kaloro – in the region.
Talking to The Express Tribune, an intelligence official said the agencies had been monitoring the pattern of terrorist activity and the movement of suspected militants in South Punjab for the last two years.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif congratulated all police and intelligence officials involved in the action and lauded their efforts to ensure the safety of citizens.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2014.
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