Pakistani paramilitary forces say they have killed two suspected operatives of the al-Qaeda militant group’s South Asian chapter during a shootout in the southern city of Karachi.
A spokesman for the Pakistan Rangers said on Wednesday that the casualties came after the gun battle broke out following a Tuesday raid on an apartment in Gulhsan-e-Iqbal, a neighborhood in Karachi’s east.
“On seeing Rangers, (the) terrorists opened fire, the Rangers troops fired back and after an exchange of fire two terrorists got killed,” the spokesman said, adding that the incident also left an intelligence officer dead and a soldier injured.
According to reports, the two slain al-Qaeda elements were identified as Abdul Ahad and Mohammad Sauleh, said to be al-Qaeda’s chief in Karachi and his assistant, respectively.
A Pakistani security official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, further said that some relatives of Ahad were also detained in Gulhsan-e-Iqbal.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Dawn news agency quoted unidentified officials as saying that the two al-Qaeda members were in Karachi for a “major activity” that could either be an assault on one of the “sensitive installations” or assassination of “key security officials”.
The Pakistani paramilitary troops have launched a crackdown on al-Qaeda militants in Karachi since September 2013. A recent report said that over the past two years, the forces have conducted about 5,795 operations and arrested 10,353 suspects, ranging from street criminals to terrorists.
Violence has been increasing in Pakistan following the 2001 US-led invasion of neighboring Afghanistan.
source : abna
