Police kill five alleged militants in encounter

KARACHI:

Police claim to have killed five suspected militants in an alleged encounter in the outskirts of the city on Wednesday.

The encounter conducted by District Malir Police took place in Nawab Goth, Shah Latif. Around 500 police personnel participated. According to police sources, the raid was conducted on a tip-off regarding the presence of militants in the area since Wednesday afternoon, after which plainclothes police officials were deployed for surveillance.

Subsequently, a large contingent of police raided the militants' hideout. "We had received a tip-off that the militants were staying at a hideout of Enayat Swati — chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — Swat group in Karachi," claimed District Malir SSP Rao Anwar, while speaking to The Express Tribune. The police faced resistance during the encounter as the militants opened fire at the personnel and hurled hand grenades.

During the encounter that continued for at least one hour, the police claimed to have killed five militants. They also claimed to have apprehended over half-a-dozen suspects and shifted them to an undisclosed location. The deceased militants killed have yet to be identified and their bodies were taken to Jinnah hospital.

"We are sure that the deceased suspects were militants," said SSP Anwar. "But we are not sure about their identities and are even trying to ascertain if Enayat Swati was among the deceased."

The site where the encounter took place is a desolate area, where people belonging to the Swati and Mehsud tribes live in around two dozen houses. "Several times, gangsters affiliated with the Sohail Dada group hid here during the operations against them in Malir," said a resident. "In the past, the operations have been conducted here for gangsters but this was the first time militants were apprehended here." Meanwhile, police officials also claimed to have found a map of the Razzakabad Police Training Centre from the possession of the militants, along with a suicide jacket, Kalashnikovs, and other weapons.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2015.