Two JSMM men held for 2016 attack on Chinese engineers

Sindh’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has arrested two terrorists associated with the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz’s (JSMM) Shafi Burfat group for the December 2016 attack on Chinese engineers in Sukkur.

Addressing a news conference on Thursday, CTD Sectarian Terrorist Intelligence Group (STIG) Incharge Chaudhry Arif Hussain said they received information regarding the presence of terrorists in Garden’s Mirza Adam Khan Road area.

Arif Hussain said a team of STIG conducted a raid and arrested two terrorists associated with the JSMM’s Shafi Burfat group, identified as Fayaz Hussain and Liaquat Ali. He said the raiding team also found anti-state literature and explosives.

The STIG chief said the arrested terrorists admitted that they and one Nasrullah Rajab Ali attacked the vehicles of Chinese engineers, who were working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, on the National Highway in Sukkur in December 2016.

They detonated 500 grams of an explosive material, which was attached to a cycle used in the attack, with a remote control, Arif Hussain said citing the arrested JSMM men. He said that no loss of life was reported in the attack, adding that Sukkur’s CTD had registered FIR No 2/2016 under Section 120-B, 3/4 of the Explosives Act and Section 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act against unidentified terrorists.

The STIG chief said the terrorists went into hiding after their attack, but Sukkur’s CTD arrested Nasrullah Rajab Ali, while Fayaz Hussain and Liaquat Ali were declared absconders in the case.

He said the explosive material seized by the raiding team includes ball bearings, two electric detonators, two non-electric detonators, a safety fuse, two batteries along with connectors and hate literature.

Arif Hussain told the media that Fayaz Hussain and Liaquat Ali had admitted during their interrogation that the Sindh police arrested them in the past as well. He said Fayaz Hussain was JSMM Shafi Burfat group’s District Khairpur chief and was arrested by the Hingoria police in 2015 for vandalism, while Liaquat Ali was arrested by the Sukkur A-Section police for possessing illegal weapons.

The STIG chief said the detainees’ group is also running a terrorist wing by the name of Sindh Liberation Army, adding that they are also involved in supplying explosives for sabotaging CPEC projects and the operations against terrorists.