ISLAMABAD: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province said on Monday it had foiled a major attack in the port city of Karachi planned by members of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militant outfit.
CTD Sindh Deputy Inspector General Ghulam Azfar Mahesar said law enforcement agencies recently received information from internal and external intelligence sources that “terrorists” were preparing explosive material at a location they had rented about 35–40 kilometers from Karachi. He said the explosives were intended to be used to carry out attacks at various locations across the city.
He said Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, the Special Branch, the Intelligence Bureau, CTD Sindh, and CTD Balochistan coordinated to formulate a strategy under which various personnel were deployed at multiple locations in Karachi, with particular focus on the city’s western region.
“After several days of effort, authorities succeeded in obtaining information about a secret hideout of terrorists in Rais Goth, Karachi, where the terrorists had prepared a large quantity of explosives and other destructive material,” Mahesar told reporters at a news conference in Karachi.
He said that acting on this information, CTD Sindh and a premier intelligence agency’s personnel conducted a joint raid on the hideout. The raid resulted in the arrest of one “terrorist” while three to four accomplices managed to flee, he said.
Mahesar said law enforcers recovered more than 2,000 kilograms of explosive material, over 30 plastic drums, five metal gas cylinders, one Mazda truck, a detonating cord and detonators of various types from the hideout.
The CTD official said two more “terrorists” were arrested in subsequent raids, with explosive material recovered from their possession.
“During initial interrogation, the arrested terrorists disclosed that they are affiliated with Commander Bashir Zeb’s network of the proscribed organization BLA and Majeed Brigade, Fitnah Al Hindustan,” Mahesar said.
“Fitnah Al Hindustan” is a term authorities use for Baloch separatist outfits, including the BLA, which have waged a decades-long insurgency in the southwestern Balochistan province.
The CTD official identified the three arrested suspects as Niaz Qadir alias Gangu, Hamdan alias Fareed and Jalil Ahmed alias Fareed.
Mahesar said the suspects in custody were being interrogated and that raids were continuing at various locations in light of their disclosures. He also said the terror plot had been planned abroad, without naming the country.
“The explosive [material] that had been shifted here was ready, and it is a huge success of the sensitive agencies, CTD and all law enforcement agencies that they saved Karachi from a major destruction,” he said.
Separatist Baloch militant groups, most prominently the BLA, accuse the federal government and military of marginalizing ethnic Baloch communities and denying them a fair share of the province’s mineral wealth, allegations Islamabad denies.
Pakistan has repeatedly said militant groups operating in Balochistan receive backing from India and find shelter in Afghanistan, claims denied by New Delhi and Kabul.
