Police claim to have killed 13 Taliban, al Qaeda militants

28 suspected militants have been killed by law enforcers in Karachi since the Dec 16

KARACHI: At least 13 Taliban and al Qaeda militants were killed in a shootout Monday evening as law enforcers stepped up counter-terror operations following the December 16 massacre at the Army Public School and College in Peshawar, a police official claimed.

This came days after paramilitary Rangers killed 13 suspected members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in four separate encounters in the Manghopir, Mauripur, Ghaggar Phatak and Baldia Town neighbourhoods of the metropolis.

Acting on intelligence information about the presence of militants in Sohrab Goth, a police party raided a compound in Deluxe Town where they faced stiff resistance, according to SSP District Malir Rao Anwar, who was heading the raiding party. The militants holed up in the compound hurled hand grenades and fired automatic weapons prompting the police to call reinforcements.



“We were tipped off that militants from TTP’s Khan Zaman Mehsud group were plotting a major terrorist attack in the city,” SSP Anwar told The Express Tribune. “Before we could cordon off their hideout, they opened indiscriminate fire on us.”

A gunbattle ensued that continued for at least two hours, he said, adding that 13 militants were killed in the firefight. The bodies of dead militants were shifted to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth for identification after medico-legal formalities at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

However, the police claimed they were from banned outfits. “They belonged to TTP’s Khan Zaman Mehsud group and al Qaeda,” SSP Anwar claimed. The police believe the dead militants also included would-be suicide bombers.

A huge cache of arms and explosives, including IEDs, hand grenades, automatic rifles and police uniforms were also recovered from the hideout. The militants stayed in two bungalows in Deluxe Town where they plotted attacks, SSP Anwar said, adding that the bungalows would be razed.

Some neighbourhoods of Karachi, particularly Sohrab Goth, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Baldia Town, Ittehad Town, Frontier Colony, Kunwari Colony, Sultanabad, Pakhtunabad, Hassan Noman Colony and Manghopir, have become hubs of militants from banned groups, including Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, TTP and al-Qaeda. Over 100 militants have been killed in encounters with the police, CID and rangers in these areas since a surgical operation was launched in Karachi on September 5, 2013.

Following the Peshawar school carnage, like elsewhere in the country law enforcers in Karachi also stepped up operations against militants in different neighbourhoods. In all, 28 suspected militants have been killed so far in these operations. Additionally, over a dozen suspected militants have also detained in raids.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2014.