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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s law enforcement and security agencies on Thursday raided a terrorist safe house in the southern city of Karachi, killing five militants planning to attack Shiite processions during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar.
“The terrorists, affiliated with Daesh and Al-Qaeda, were planning to attack during Ashura (the 10th day of Muharram),” said Rao Anwar, senior police superintendent.
“We had them under surveillance for the past few days, but had to conduct the operation on an emergency basis as they could’ve moved soon.”
As part of the government’s security plan, cell phone services will remain disrupted in major cities while Shiite processions take to the streets.
A sizeable cache of arms, ammunition, explosives and rockets were found during the raid, Anwar said.
It followed two recent incidents in the span of less than a week. On Sunday, the Daesh flag was raised in the capital Islamabad despite tight security and round-the-clock camera surveillance.
And security agencies raided a Karachi jail this week on an intelligence tipoff that inmates were being recruited by Daesh.
Though the recruiters in the jail were apprehended, of the 30 inmates recruited, 12 were freed on bail prior to the raid and remain at large.
In June, two terrorists who pledged allegiance to Daesh escaped the jail and fled to Afghanistan, according to the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).
Pakistan’s Foreign Office denies an “organized presence of Daesh” in the country. Col. Mobeen, a retired intelligence official, told Arab News: “We have an ongoing operation across Pakistan that has dismantled many militant networks. The people who escape the clutches of security are regrouping under the banner of Daesh. These new cells are gauging their capabilities and testing our reaction. They don’t have leadership and will remain in disarray.”
An explosion on Friday injured several people on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Bomb experts are still determining the nature of the explosion.
Security experts say no major attack has been conducted by Daesh in Pakistan, but there are concerns that it is gradually penetrating universities and using social media to recruit people.
“The intelligence agencies are reacting very rapidly. They’re apprehending these people well before they could stage any incident,” retired Lt. Gen. Amjad Shuaib told Arab News.
“We’re facing a serious threat from Daesh in Afghanistan, where we know they’re getting support from India.”