KARACHI: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested four dangerous and wanted persons belonging to the Al Qaeda and other banned religious outfits after a brief encounter in the city and seized a huge cache of explosives, chemicals and materials from their possession. The brother of Al Qaeda commander Qari Zafar is among the arrested persons; the culprits were planning on targeting high profile personalities and were also involved in the killing of intelligence officials, said CID (Investigations) SSP Choudhry Mohammad Aslam Khan while speaking at a press conference on Sunday.
The arrested militants include, Mohammad Anwar alias Mohammad Asim alias Jabar alias Qasim alias Yasir alias Abu Darda, Rehan alias Mehmood, Azim alias Yousuf and Ghulam Haider alias Baba. Four of the militants' associates, Jahangir, Saifullah, Azam and Misbahuddin managed to flee the scene.
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When the team conducted the raid, the terrorist opened fire on them, however, the team managed to make the arrests and also recover huge caches of explosives, weapons, chemicals and other materials used in making bombs.
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Anwar and his companions, Habibullah Burmi and Maulvi Abdul Muttalib, were arrested in May 2003 and 583 kilograms of explosives, five hand grenades, two Kalashnikovs were recovered from their possession. However, Anwar disappeared after he was released on bail. SSP Khan revealed that Anwar was recruiting people for terrorism on the directives of his brother, Zafar; he has sent various persons to Miran Shah for training.
Through public transport, Anwar sent different types of chemicals, electronic devices used in making bombs and suicide jackets to his brother who used them in different terror activities. The accused, Rehan, is affiliated with Al-Qaeda and resides in Ranchore Lines. He, along with Arab militants, was trained at Masakar-ul-Farooq. Rehan was a logistical supporter for the Arab militants; he looked after them, provided them with shelter and medical treatment, while Azim alias Yousuf, is a native of Afghanistan and was temporarily residing in Toori Bangash Colony. He is affiliated with Tehreek-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud. Azim was trained in Afghanistan and participated in the fight with the security forces there. He recently was trained in bomb making in the camp of Qari Zafar.
The militant, Ghulam Haider, is a resident of Lyari and is affiliated with banned outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyab (L-e-T). He was trained at Masakar Tayyaba and helped in all the activities of L-e-T and is currently working for LJ.
According to the initial investigation, the militant Anwar, on the directives of Qari Zafar, via Jahangir and Saifullah alias Keamari Wala, has killed Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials Ibrahim and Fazal in March 2008.
The arrested militants planned to target high profile personalities and also kidnap traders for ransom. They were also collecting donations from Karachi to send to Qari Zafar.