MULTAN, Pakistan: Five Al-Qaeda operatives were arrested in a raid overnight in eastern Pakistan, an official with the country’s counterterrorism department said Friday.
According to the official, Muhammad Imran, the raid in Punjab province was carried out in collaboration with the country’s top intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence.
The suspects arrested late Thursday belong to the Al-Qaeda branch active in the region and known as Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, he said, adding that the men ran a media cell for the terror network and coordinated its militant operations in the region. One of the arrested men was an expert in forged documents, while another specialized in digital media and publications, the official also said.
Imran said electronic equipment, weapons and explosive vests were seized in the raid. He said the suspects, who were initially based in the southern port city of Karachi but recently moved to Gujranwala, were also involved in raising funds for Al-Qaeda.
Al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden was killed in a US Navy SEALs operation in May 2011 in his hiding place in the garrison city of Abbottabad, not far from the capital of Islamabad.
Pakistan arrests 5 Al-Qaeda operatives in nighttime raid
https://arab.news/4k7pw
Pakistan arrests 5 Al-Qaeda operatives in nighttime raid
- One of the arrested men was an expert in forged documents
- Counter terrorism department also ceases electronic equipment, weapons and explosive vests
One dead, four injured as gas cylinder explosion triggers fire in Karachi building
- Fire triggered by gas cylinder explosion in Karachi’s Bismillah Residency in North Nazimabad area, say police
- Many households in Pakistan rely on liquefied petroleum gas cylinders which are susceptible to gas explosions
ISLAMABAD: One person was killed while four others were injured in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi after a gas cylinder exploded, triggering a fire inside a residential building, police and rescue officials said on Sunday.
The fire was caused on Saturday night by a gas cylinder explosion at a flat in Bismillah Residency located in Karachi’s North Nazimabad area, Sindh Police said in a statement. Local media reports said the flat was located on the ninth floor of the high-rise building.
Rescue 1122 Sindh emergency service said its firefighters arrived shortly after the fire was reported and doused the flames on Sunday morning. It said all of the building’s occupants, except for the one person who was killed by the fire, were rescued.
“The child who died in the fire that broke out following a cylinder blast in a building has been identified as Burhan, son of Aoun, aged 15,” Rescue 1122 spokesperson said in a statement.
It said the injured included two women, one man and a four-year-old girl.
“All the injured were shifted to hospital after receiving immediate medical aid, and the rescue operation has been completed,” the spokesperson added.
This is the second such explosion to take place in Karachi in less than a week. At least 15 people were killed, including women and children, when a gas cylinder exploded in a residential building in the city’s Soldier Bazaar area on Thursday.
Most houses and apartment buildings in Karachi, like elsewhere in Pakistan, are supplied with natural gas for cooking. However, many households also rely on liquefied petroleum gas cylinders because of low natural gas pressure.
In July, a gas explosion following a wedding reception at a home in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, killed eight people, including the bride and groom.
A massive fire at a popular shopping mall in Karachi last month killed over 70 people.
