Apex committee decides to expand scope of Karachi operation

DG ISPR says criminals will be punished regardless of political, religious and sectarian affiliations

KARACHI: A special apex committee meeting on Thursday decided to extend law enforcement agencies writ to Karachi's weakly governed areas, DG ISPR Asim Bajwa tweeted.

6)Agreed on need to extend governance/LEAs 2 Kci's weakly governed spaces7)Check all financial chnl funding to criminals,mtts,terrorists-6

— Gen(R) Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) May 14, 2015

“Effective policing and surveillance will be carried out in Karachi’s suburbs to prevent sneaking terrorist attacks,” DG ISPR said.

...8)Effective policing & surveillance in vast suburbs of Kci to prevent sneaking terrorist attks, -7

— Gen(R) Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) May 14, 2015

Further, Bajwa said that department officials will be appointed on transparency and merit to help the system for “long term sustainability.”

9)Transparency/merit based appt of various dept officials with oversight mech to help the system for long term sustainability-8

— Gen(R) Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) May 14, 2015

Bajwa also tweeted that criminals will be punished regardless of their affiliations.

“Criminals and abettors will be apprehended regardless of political, religious, ethnic and sectarian identity,” he said.

...3)Apprehension of criminals&abettors regardless of political,religious,ethnic,sectarian or any other affiliations & proscribed outfits-4

— Gen(R) Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) May 14, 2015

The meeting was held at the Corps Headquarters in Karachi to discuss the security situation following yesterday’s deadly attack on the Ismaili community.

At least 44 people were killed when armed gunmen boarded a bus and opened indiscriminate fire on commuters from the Ismaili community.

Militant group Jundullah, which has attacked minorities before, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Read: Safora massacre death toll rises to 45 as Ismaili community say their last goodbyes

Thursday’s meeting was attended by the Sindh chief minister, governor Sindh, the army chief,  director-general of the ISI, chief secretary and IG Sindh,  director-general of MI, DGMO and director-general ISPR

During the day, initial investigation reports had revealed that the culprits hailed from Afghanistan. Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, meanwhile, claimed that India’s spy agency RAW was involved in creating unrest in Pakistan.

Read: RAW behind terrorist activities in Pakistan, says Foreign secretary

The director general said that apex committee meetings will be held on a weekly basis from now on.

2)Cont of across the board ops with increased tempo-3) Regular,meaningful Apex Cmte mtngs on weekly basis-3

— Gen(R) Asim Saleem Bajwa (@AsimBajwaISPR) May 14, 2015

Nawaz meets Zardari

Later during the day, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met with former president Asif Ali Zardari at the PM House in Islamabad.

According to reports, the two discussed the apex committee meeting and how to combat terrorism in Karachi.

Police meeting underway

Following the Apex Committee in Karachi, a meeting of the city’s police chiefs is underway to discuss the security strategy in the aftermath of Safora massacre.

The meeting at the police head-office on Thursday is being headed by Karachi police chief Additional IG Ghalum Qadir Thebo, heading the probe committee, and attended by other high-ups such as IG Sindh Ghulam Haider Jamali and DIGs East, West, CIA and Counter-terrorism Department.

Sources say the meeting will scrutinise the statement of eye witnesses and evidence found from the site of the incident and its forensic report and further the investigation in light of these findings.

‘10 million for informer’

During the meeting, Karachi Police chief Additional IG Ghulam Qadir Thebo proposed a reward of rupees 10 million for anyone who helps in the investigation and provides details of the assailants.

He promised that whereabouts of such an informer will be kept in high secrecy and that they will be protected.