‘Target killers in Karachi being funded from three countries’

Financial help for terrorists in Karachi being provided from South Africa, Thailand, UK, Rangers tell Senate committee

KARACHI: The Rangers authorities revealed on Wednesday that target killers in Karachi are receiving financial assistance from South Africa, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

While briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, the Rangers authorities informed the committee that 7,950 operations had been conducted across the metropolis since September 2013.

Around 6,361 suspects were handed over to the police while 221 were handed over to the FIA and other law-enforcement agencies. As many as 1,158 suspects were released without registration of the First Information Report, 1,313 released on bail while 188 were convicted in various cases.

A total of 1,236 alleged terrorists, 848 target killers, 403 extortionists and 143 kidnappers were among those arrested during these raids.Alleged target killers confessed to targeting 7,224 persons in the city, the Rangers stated.

1,313 operations were conducted against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), 1,035 against the People’s Aman Committee and 28 against the Awami National Party (ANP).

The Rangers authorities further reported that there was an 80 percent decline in terror-related incidents, 75 percent in target killings, 85 percent in extortion cases and 83 percent reduction in incidents of kidnapping.

The report comes a day after two aarmy men, Lance Naik Abdul Razzaq and Sepoy Khadim Hussain, were martyred when some motorcycle gunmen opened fire on their pick-up truck near the Parking Plaza in Saddar area of Karachi.

The law-enforcement personnel launched a major crackdown on terrorists and criminals in the city in 2013, and the level of violence has dropped drastically since then.

The city of 20 million people is frequently hit by religious, political and ethnic violence.According to the statistics compiled by the provincial police, 390 people have died in targeted killings this year so far, of whom 18 were policemen. Of the 1,019 such killings last year, 70 were policemen.