‘Sectarian attacks on agenda of all banned outfits now’

Counter-terrorism official says financially and logistically dented, terrorist outfits which had different agendas all going for soft targets now

Terrorist outfits namely the Laskhar-e-Jhangvi, the Lashker-e-Jhangvi al-Alami, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent are all focusing on sectarian attacks, particularly targeting the Shia, Bohra, and Ahmadi communities and the law enforcement agencies, as they are soft targets.

Counter-terrorism official Raja Umer Khattab told The News that earlier sectarian outfits and other terrorist outfits had their own agendas, but with their financial and logistical support dealt a severe blow because of the Operation Zarb-e-Azab, these organisations were now working as small groups, targeting vulnerable communities and law enforcement personnel to show their presence.

“The LeJ, the LeJ al-Alami led by Abu Sufiyan, AQIS and TTP are all carrying out sectarian attacks now as it is easier to target shopkeepers, small religious gatherings held at homes or open spaces, cops deployed at traffic signals, etc,” he added.

To a query, Khattab said the terrorists out on bail could be involved in sectarian attacks, especially in Karachi’s Central district. “They seem to have formed new small groups and carrying out these attacks,” he added.

The official said Daesh (ISIS) has claimed some attacks in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Sohrab Goth and Aziz Bhatti. “There might be a small group in Karachi affiliated with Daesh but that hasn’t been confirmed so far.”

Khattab also said there was evidence of the LeJ having ties with the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.

Crackdown in the past

In the past, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Sindh and the defunct Anti-Terrorist Wing (ATW) had launched a crac
kdown on sectarian outfits and arrested Akram Lahori, Atta Rehman, Abdul
Wahab alias Khalid, Shahnawaz and others who were involved in several sectarian killings.

The LeJ has ties with various terrorist organisations including the TTP and the Afghan Taliban. It sends its men to these organisations for training. They learn operating heavy arms and making bombs.

The LeJ has a vast network in Sindh and usually hires teenagers in Karachi and sends them to Afghanistan for training.

The LeJ targets members of the Shia community and other sects and also officers who were involved in the crackdown against the outfit.

Sources said the terrorists arrested by police had disclosed during interrogation that they were sent to Afghanistan for training.

They learned how to operate Kalashnikovs, LMGs, anti-aircraft guns and making bombs.

They were sent back to Pakistan and assigned targets in different areas of Karachi. Before carrying out an attack, they gathered information about the person they had to target and were guided by the outfit’s ameer (chief) in the area.

The organisation provided them with weapons and motorcycles to carry out the attacks. Police investigators said the LeJ and other banned organisations were still carrying out their operations in Karachi.

Unchecked funding

Khattab also highlighted funding and flow of finances as yet another issue being faced in the crackdown on sectarian terrorist outfits.

“The hierarchy of these outfits, i.e. the leaders who are not proscribed themselves but are on the Fourth Schedule, are still going around providing money to the families of their activists we have either killed or arrested. Usually, the amount is between Rs5,000 to Rs7,000 per month,” he said.

“In this scenario, though there have been efforts to trace the money trail, it remains imperative that we put in more resources to ascertain how exactly these people are still generating such large amounts of funds.”