From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Wednesday has arrested an alleged member of outlawed Daish during a raid near Northern Bypass of Karachi.
CTD senior official Raja Umar Khattab said that a key member of outlawed named Abdul Ghani alias Abu Mansoor was arrested during a raid in Karachi’s Northern Bypass. The CTD team also recovered explosive material used for manufacturing bombs from his possession.
Raja Umar Khattab said that the Daish terrorist came to the metropolis for carrying out a terror attack. Abdul Ghani alias Abu Mansoor was also in contact with the Daish network in Balochistan, he added.
According to the CTD official, an accomplice of Abdul Ghani had been killed in Balochistan last year. The killed terrorist had been identified as Mumtaz Pehelwan who was also a key member of outlawed Daish.
Earlier on January 14, CTD and intelligence authorities had arrested Kashif Ali aka Shaheen, a most wanted terrorist named in the Sindh Police’s Red Book.
According to CTD officials, the suspected terrorist had been arrested from the Lines Area locality of Karachi, where he was hiding at a house.
“He remained associated with al Qaeda and Jundullah,” they said and added that he was an accomplice of terrorists who were involved in attacking Corps Commander Karachi in 2004.
The CTD had said that the suspect remained in hiding in various cities of the country and before arriving in Karachi, he remained in hiding in Rawalpindi for quite some time.
“He was arrested after the intelligence authorities came to know regarding his arrival in Karachi,” he said.
The terrorist, according to a counter-terrorism official, was trying to mobilize a sleeper cell and was planning to launch a major attack in the city. “A probe is currently underway and further details regarding his nefarious designs will emerge after that,” he said.
Recently, a most-wanted terrorist of a banned organisation, who was already named in the ‘Red Book’ compiled by the government, was arrested by a joint team of CTD officials and a sensitive institution in Karachi.
According to CTD, Abbas Jafri was a close aide of another most-wanted terrorist Yawar Abbas, whereas, his name was also included in the government’s ‘Red Book’. The raiding team also confiscated a weapon from his possession.
The spokesperson said that Abbas Jafri had received training from a neighbouring country in 2014 where he was taught medical and intelligence services. The arrested terrorist is an expert in automatic weapons and received training from a neighbouring country, said CTD.
Abbas Jafri had allegedly been involved in completing reconnaissance for terrorists to carry out different activities in Karachi.