Malik Ishaq, two sons killed in alleged police shootout

MUZAFFARGARH: At least 16 proclaimed offenders including Malik Ishaq, leader of banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and his two sons were killed in an alleged police shootout with militants near Shahwala in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Police said Ishaq, who has been in and out of police custody in recent years, was arrested on Saturday.

According to Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials, six accused including Malik Ishaq and his two sons were being taken to Muzaffargarh for identification of arms when loyalists attacked the convoy to release him and the others from police custody.

"The police retaliated and in the encounter Ishaq and his two sons were killed," said one police official.

Six police personnel were also injured in the exchange of fire.

Another senior police official said the attack came after Ishaq and others had been taken to recover a cache of explosives.

The cache included "three water coolers full of explosive, detonators, a Kalashnikov, some rifles and hundreds of bullets," the official told news agency AFP on condition of anonymity.

"After the recovery when police were returning back, at around 3:00am, more than a dozen terrorists attacked the convoy and tried to rescue Ishaq and others," the police official said.

Officials said all bodies have been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ).

According to a spokesman for the CTD, 10 of the terrorists killed in the shootout belonged to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al-Qaeda.

The CTD spokesman said that police had sought the aid of the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) and other departments for identification of the terrorists. He said sis of the terrorists killed had already been identified.

PROFILE:

Born in 1959 in Punjab's Rahim Yar Khan district, Malik Ishaq was one of the founding members of the banned sectarian outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba, but following differences with other SSP leaders he formed the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which would also later be added to the list of banned terrorist outfits in 2001.

In 2003, the United States declared the LeJ a global terrorist organisation and named Ishaq a global terrorist.

Ishaq was under custody in 2011, but the Supreme Court ordered his release for lack of evidence.

Ishaq, who was facing more than 100 murder cases and spent over 23 years in jail, had been in and out of police custody despite the Lahore High Court ordering his release several times. He was often detained and several times kept under house arrest under the Maintenance of Public Order and other laws.

Both Ishaq and his two sons were being kept at the Rahim Yar Khan central jail before their death in the shootout. Police said he was arrested six days ago on charges of target-killing.