Two arrested in arms case confess to involvement in sectarian killings

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Sindh police claimed that a foreign militant outfit, Zainebiyoun Brigade, has been involved in the sectarian-based target killing incidents in Karachi.

This was revealed during a press conference held at the CTD Civil Lines where CTD Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Asif Aijaz Shaikh informed the media that the Zainebiyoun Brigade was involved in a sudden increase in target killings in the city between September 2023 and February 2024.

The CTD came to know about the involvement of the foreign terrorist group in target killing cases during interrogation with two suspects arrested by the local police in connection with street crime.

Initially, those killings appeared to be the result of resistance during robbery bids. However, when the CTD investigated those incidents, it was revealed that from September 2023 till February 2024, around 17 sectarian-based target killings took place in Karachi besides killings during robbery attempts.

Through technical and forensic methods, it was discovered that terrorists from the Zainebiyoun Brigade were involved in those killings, the officer maintained.

DIG Shaikh said the terrorist group's mastermind was Syed Hussain Mousavi, alias Muslim, who had been operating from abroad and he provided targets, funding and other support to his operatives in the city.

The officer added that the mastermind provided his operatives the pictures and other information about the targets. Initially, some team members were tasked with carrying out reconnaissance. When the mastermind received the reconnaissance reports, he passed them on to his target killing team to execute the killings.

The CTD DIG said their investigations had revealed that those sectarian target killings stopped after February 21.

CTD Incharge Raja Umer Khattab was assigned the task of investigations into the rise in killing cases in the city.

Eventually, the CTD found out that two suspects, Waqar Abbas and Hussain Akbar involved in sectarian terrorism, had been arrested by the local police in an illegal arms case and were in jail.

The CTD fulfilled legal requirements to get the suspects’ custody from jail for investigations, during which the weapons used in the target killings were recovered based on the suspects' identification.

The arrested men also reportedly revealed that three teams were involved in the target killings and their members belonged to Gilgit-Baltistan. Following their arrests, their accomplices went into hiding.

They said they had been targeting individuals from a specific sect. According to the CTD chief, this terrorist network had already completed reconnaissance of more than 15 individuals and sent the information to their mastermind.

During the interrogation, the suspects confessed to killing 13 people and injuring 11 others. The individuals they targeted included Sher Muhammad, son of Umar Gul, Qaiser Farooqi, son of Rehmatullah, Adnan, son of Shameem, Meraj, son of Noor Muhammad, Hamd Osama, son of Muhammad Saleem, Muhammad Saleem, son of Abdul Karim, Habibur Rehman, son of Ubaidur Rehman, Shoaib, Saif ur Rehman, Muhammad Ayub, son of Shehzad, Abdul Bari, son of Muhammad Ameen, Saad Farooqi, son of Muhammad Khursheed Farooqi, and Muhammad Yameenuddin, son of Ameenuddin.

The suspects disclosed that those involved in facilitating and conducting reconnaissance for the network included Syed Sohaib Abbas, alias Waqar Gilgiti, Haider Gilgiti, Haider, alias Raju, Abid, Akhtar Bootwala, Kamil Bukhari, Abbas, alias Murtaza, alias Mustafa, Mujtaba, alias Golden, Salman Gilgiti, Ali, alias Pamphlet, alias Mood, Bilal Gilgiti, Faisal Gilgiti, alias Jumper, Muhammad, Rashid, Afaq Haider Rizvi and Usman.

The target killing team of the network comprised Zafar Gilgiti, Inam Gilgiti, Aqeel Gilgiti and Muhammad Ali Gilgiti.

In response to a question, the CTD DIG said an internal accountability process had been initiated in the CTD and 14 personnel had so far been dismissed and more than 100 officers and personnel punished.

He added that some punishments included reducing service periods by two years and vowed that the campaign against black sheep within the CTD would continue. Khattab also spoke at the press conference. He said the terrorist network was formed by a local young man. He conceded that many members of the group were still at large, but said that they would be arrested soon.

When asked if a neighbouring country was involved in the target killings, he said there had been no evidence so far linking the matter to the neighbouring country, but further arrests may reveal more facts.