Karachi
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has claimed that the terror organisation Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) was ‘regrouping’ in Karachi with the intent to carry out terrorist attacks.
A news report in Dawn cited a counter-terrorism official, Raja Umar Khattab, as saying that the CTD had received reports of six ‘disgruntled’ militants of the AQIS arriving in the port city from Afghanistan.
The CTD official stated that the AQIS members aim to activate their sleeper cell in Karachi. Khattab was of the view that the members belonged to a splinter group of AQIS.
He further stated that the members hailed from Karachi and had went to Afghanistan, where they reportedly developed differences with their leadership and subsequently returned.
Khattab informed media that law enforcement agencies were making efforts to bust this cell. He expressed the hope that the members would be ‘neutralised’ before they carried out any terror act.
Law enforcers were making concerted efforts to bust this emerging cell and the CTD official hoped they would be ‘neutralised’ before they could carry out any act of terror.
The CTD official also informed media that since two of AQIS’s bomb making experts had been killed in 2016, the group’s capacity to carry out improvised explosive device (IED) attacks had reduced.
He further added that sleeper cells of AQIS and other outfits could not succeed in carrying out major acts of terrorism as their ‘capacity and funds had been diminished’.
While talking about sectarian violence, Khattab stated that it had significantly decreased in Karachi. He apprised media that law enforcers had wiped out two groups involved in sectarian killings, one led by Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militants, and the other belonging to Sipah-i-Mohamamad.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has claimed that the terror organisation Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) was ‘regrouping’ in Karachi with the intent to carry out terrorist attacks.
A news report in Dawn cited a counter-terrorism official, Raja Umar Khattab, as saying that the CTD had received reports of six ‘disgruntled’ militants of the AQIS arriving in the port city from Afghanistan.
The CTD official stated that the AQIS members aim to activate their sleeper cell in Karachi. Khattab was of the view that the members belonged to a splinter group of AQIS.
He further stated that the members hailed from Karachi and had went to Afghanistan, where they reportedly developed differences with their leadership and subsequently returned.
Khattab informed media that law enforcement agencies were making efforts to bust this cell. He expressed the hope that the members would be ‘neutralised’ before they carried out any terror act.
Law enforcers were making concerted efforts to bust this emerging cell and the CTD official hoped they would be ‘neutralised’ before they could carry out any act of terror.
The CTD official also informed media that since two of AQIS’s bomb making experts had been killed in 2016, the group’s capacity to carry out improvised explosive device (IED) attacks had reduced.
He further added that sleeper cells of AQIS and other outfits could not succeed in carrying out major acts of terrorism as their ‘capacity and funds had been diminished’.
While talking about sectarian violence, Khattab stated that it had significantly decreased in Karachi. He apprised media that law enforcers had wiped out two groups involved in sectarian killings, one led by Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militants, and the other belonging to Sipah-i-Mohamamad.