Banned outfit commander among 8 militants arrested in Karachi

Arrests made after CTD officials conduct a raid at the militants’ hideout in Baldia Town

KARACHI: A banned outfit commander was among eight suspected militants arrested on Monday by the Counter Terrorism Department of the Sindh police.

The arrests were made after an exchange of fire between CTD officials and the militants during a raid at a militant hideout at Ittehad Town locality of Baldia Town.

CTD official DSP Ali Raza also claimed to have recovered nearly 50 kilogrammes of explosives, 10 ball bombs, three rifles, eight TT pistols and two motorcycles during the raid.

Earlier this month, a key commander of a banned Iranian sectarian extremist group was arrested by security forces from the outskirts of Quetta Saturday morning. Jundullah commander Abdul Salam Rigi was taken into custody from the Lak Pass area, security sources told The Express Tribune.

Read: Jailed abroad: Jundullah commander arrested in Quetta

Rigi was the senior most commander of Jundullah after the capture and subsequent execution of the group’s former chief Abdolmalek Rigi by the Iranian government in 2010. The Jundullah extremist group, which is based in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, has been blamed for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Iran.