[Karachi] has come under the grip of militants yet again, as investigators inspecting two cases of murder of persons belonging to two different sects, cited the involvement of banned religious outfit Lashker-i-Jhangvi (LJ) in most sectarian killings. In the past, the Sindh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the now defunct Anti-Terrorist Wing (ATW), presently Anti Violent Crime Cell (AVCC), led a crackdown against the network of militants, and held wanted criminals, Akram Lahori, Ata Rehman, Abdul Wahab alias Kahlid, Shahnawaz and others involved in a number of sectarian killings. This group has previously been linked with various militant organisations including Baitullah Mehsud group, Afghan Taliban Group and Harkatul Jihad-i-Islami. It allegedly sent its men to these organisations for training purposes, including operating heavy arms, target killing training, making bombs with mechanical devices. The sources added that the group has vast network in Sindh and usually hired young teenaged boys from Karachi.
Investigators claimed that the roots of LJ were still present in the city, and investigations into the murder of two people killed in Saddar recently only confirmed their presence. LJ has been targeting people belonging to Shia and other sects, and have also targeted officers who operated against their organisation and killed their members. Shahid (name changed to protect identity), one of the suspects, disclosed that he was sent to Afghanistan by Tariq, a sector Incharge of SSP. Upon reaching Afghanistan, he was sent to Khalid Bin Waleed in Khoost areas of Afghanistan for training. He was trained by Harkatul Mujahideen to operate Kalashnikov, LMG, Anti-Aircraft Gun and making of a bomb. Afterwards, Shahid was sent back to Pakistan and he was assigned with other activists to target in Al-Falah, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Bohra Peer areas of Karachi.
Moreover, while working in Karachi, he met with LJ AmeerÂ’s Ata-ur-Rehman and Naeem Bukhari. who sent him to Kabul to receive bomb training. He completed this training within 32 days and came back to Karachi in March 2001. The accused further disclosed that he had been involved in the attack on the Imambargah in Al-Falah, which killed 13 worshippers. Shahid, along with his other partners, also killed RTA Superintendent Hassan Ali in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on the directives of Bukhari Sahab. Furthermore, he attacked a police van in Bohra Peer area to release his accomplices but failed. However, a police constable was killed in that incident.
A wanted militant Abdul Wahab alias Khalid alias Jameel of Lashker-i-Jhangvi who was arrested by the Law Enforcing Agency also disclosed his criminal history and stated that he was born in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and his family migrated to Karachi and settled in Korangi. He was four-years-old at the time. While working at an electricianÂ’s shop, he met with LJ Ameer Maqsood Qureshi Akram Lahori in 1999. Later, he was trained by them and was assigned targets for killing persons in the city.