KARACHI: In a rare admission about the existence of the militant Islamic State (IS) group in the city, police claimed on Thursday to have killed a commander of the Middle East-based outfit during an encounter in the militancy-infested locality of Ittehad Town.
“Kamran Aslam alias Kamran Gujjar was a trained operational commander of the IS in Pakistan,” Additional Inspector General of police, Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar said at a press conference held in his office.
Accompanied by DIG CIA Barrister Abdul Khalique Shaikh and SSP West Azfar Mahesar, the city police chief claimed that before joining the IS, Kamran was associated with Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and was involved in killing 40 policemen and one Rangers man in Karachi and Hyderabad. His group had also killed workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and members of the Bohra community in firing and explosions.
AIG Mahar claimed that Kamran, who had recently joined the IS, was planning to attack media houses, politicians, lawmakers, representatives of local governments and senior police and military officers.
He said that Tahir alias Sain, the main accused in the Safoora attack in which 45 members of the Ismaili Shia community were killed on May 13, 2015, had told investigators that Kamran Gujjar was involved in several terrorist activities.
Barrister Khalique Shaikh told Dawn that Kamran was initially associated with Taliban and got militancy training in Waziristan. He later joined the AQIS and was recently ‘inspired’ by the IS. “He contacted Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the chief of globally declared terrorist outfit (Islamic State), through another person,” said the DIG CIA whose team also took part in the encounter in which Kamran was killed.
“He declared himself as commander of the IS in Pakistan and was trying to establish the militant organisation’s set-up in the country. Timely information provided by an intelligence agency led to his elimination before the IS practically took off,” said the senior police officer.
About the motive behind the killing of law-enforcers, Bohra community members and workers of the MQM, Mr Shaikh said that because of his ‘extremist views’ Kamran targeted the law-enforcement personnel. The Bohra community members were targeted on sectarian grounds and the MQM workers because the IS was against ‘secular’ parties.
Providing details about the encounter, the officer said that the CIA and district West police, with the help of a federal civilian security agency, had conducted a targeted operation in Ittehad Town in areas under Manghopir police at about 3am.
The suspects resorted to firing and attacked police with crackers in which two policemen were injured. Police returned fire and arrested one of the injured suspects and recovered an SMG, three hand-grenades and explosive material from him.
The injured was identified as Kamran Aslam who was taken to a hospital where he died. The Sindh government had announced Rs2.5 million reward for his arrest.
Before being shifted to the hospital, Kamran ‘confessed’ to having been involved in killing 40 policemen in Karachi and Hyderabad, including DSPs Fatah Sangri and Zulfiqar Zaidi, targeted killings in the two cities and bank robberies in Sindh and Balochistan.
Killing of policemen in Karachi
According to a police statement distributed among journalists at the press conference, Kamran had allegedly killed three policemen near Rado Bakery in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, four policemen in Shah Faisal Colony, four policemen outside the house of MQM-H chief Afaq Ahmed in Landhi-5, three policemen outside Al-Razi Hospital in Landhi-3 ½, two policemen in Gulistan-i-Jauhar and two policemen near Landi Kotal bridge in Nazimabad in 2013. All were killed in attacks on police mobiles.
In 2014, he shot dead a Rangers man near Bait-ul-Mukarram Masjid in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.
In 2015, Kamran, along with his accomplices, gunned down DSP Fatah Sangri, his driver and gunman when they were patrolling in Gulshan-i-Hadeed. It was followed by the killing of another DSP, Zulfiqar Zaidi, in Shah Faisal Colony.
Killing of policemen in Hyderabad
A police vehicle was attacked outside a restaurant in Latifabad, Hyderabad, in 2013 in which four policemen were killed. Kamran, along with his accomplices, killed seven policemen in several parts of Hyderabad on a single day, the same year. It was followed by the killing of two policemen guarding the house of a builder in Latifabad, one policeman in the same town, two near Giddu Chowk and another two outside the Hyderabad City Courts.
Political and religious targeted killings
Kamran, along with his accomplices, shot dead Saleem Naqshbandi, the Khateeb of Alamgir Masjid, in Landhi’s Baber Market, and four members of the Bohra community – two in Serena market, North Karachi, and two near Nagan Chowrangi in 2012.
He was also involved in killing an alleged target killer belonging to the MQM near Piyala hotel in Nazimabad and a worker of the party in Khurramabad in 2013.
In Hyderabad, Kamran killed a member of the Shia community in Latifabad-5 and a local leader of the MQM outside the City Courts in 2014.
Explosions
According to the police statement, the IS militant was also involved in several incidents of explosion. Seven members of the Bohra community were killed in an explosion in Nazimabad’s Bohra market.
In year 2013, KESC official Farhan Khalil, who was also a leader of the MQM, and ‘Guddu Panwala’, an activist of the party in Landhi, were killed in two different bomb blasts allegedly carried out by Kamran.
The militant was also involved in a suicide attack on the vehicle of Brigadier Basit near Defence View in year 2014. The vehicle was partially damaged.
A little girl was killed when he threw a hand-grenade which landed outside an Imambargah near Ayesha Manzil during a Muharram Majlis the same year.
His accomplice, Umer Choto, was killed when a bomb exploded in his hand. He was trying to fit the bomb at a shopping mall in Karachi.
Bank robberies
Kamran was allegedly involved in looting Rs3.2 million in a bank robbery in Hyderabad in 2013. The bank’s guard was injured. He robbed another bank of Rs1.8m in the city and injured its guard. The driver of Rangers vehicle passing through the area was killed in the firing.
A bank was robbed of Rs3.2m in Panjgur area of Balochistan in 2013. The bank’s guard was injured.
Two groups involved in terror
AIG Mushtaq Mahar said two groups were involved in terrorist activities in Karachi. In a subtle way, he said that members of one group belonging to banned religious outfit wore ‘shalwar-kameez’ and those of the other were in ‘trousers and shirts’.
In reply to a question, he admitted that some policemen also were involved in ‘short-term’ kidnappings. Cases were being registered against such policemen who would also face departmental actions, he added. http://www.dawn.com/news/1246408/commander-of-is-killed-in-karachi-encounter
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