Targeted raid: Three suspected LeJ members killed in encounter

CTD officials also seized three hand grenades, a Kalashnikov and three pistols from them

KARACHI: Three suspected militants of a banned outfit were killed during an alleged encounter with the police in Manghopir late Saturday night.

The encounter took place when the police force of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) along with the personnel of an intelligence agency conducted a raid on a tip-off at the militants' hideout late Saturday night in Khairabad, Manghopir - an area notorious for the presence of militants of different banned outfits, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

CTD officials said that they faced massive resistance during the raid. However, after an exchange of fire, two of the suspects were killed on the spot while another died while being taken to the hospital. They also claim to have seized three hand grenades, a Kalashnikov and three pistols from their possession.



CTD in-charge Ali Raza said that the unidentified deceased militants belonged to the Hafiz Qasim Rasheed group of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Rasheed was the chief of LeJ for Sindh chapter and arrested in 2012 by the then Crime Investigation Department and is currently imprisoned in Central Jail, Karachi. Raza further claimed that the militants were involved in more than two dozen cases of sectarian-based target killings.

Since the operation began in Karachi on September 5, 2013, few encounters have taken place between the LeJ and the law enforcers. This was the first major encounter carried out by law enforcers in Karachi since Malik Ishaq, the chief of the LeJ, his two sons and 11 attackers were killed in an alleged exchange of fire with police personnel about four days ago in Punjab's Muzaffargarh district.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2015.