Pak police identifies TTP terrorists involved in Karachi police chief’s office attack

PTI, Feb 19, 2023, 4:24 PM IST

AP photo

Heavily-armed Pakistani Taliban militants who carried out an audacious attack on the office of the Karachi Police chief have been identified as residents of two tribal districts in northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place at 7.10 pm local time on Friday, during which Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists stormed the five-storey Karachi Police Office (KPO) building situated in the country’s most populous city.

The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued by its spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani.

In the hours-long operation between the Pakistan police commandos and paramilitary soldiers, three TTP terrorists were killed and four others, including three security personnel, also lost their lives. According to police, terrorists Zala Noor and Kifayatullah were identified as residents of north Waziristan and Lakki Marwat districts respectively. Both terrorists conducted complete recce of the location for a month before the attack. They wanted to target the Additional IG office in the police office, they said.

Police conducted a raid at the house of alleged terrorist Kifayatullah in his village Wanda Ameer in Lakki Marwat district on Saturday and interrogated his family members.

Kifataullah (in his 20s) had fled from home five months ago and since then the family were not aware of his whereabouts.

The family members said they came to know about Kifayatullah’s presence in Pakistan after the Karachi blast as they were expecting him in Afghanistan.

Police sources said Kifayatullah was a trained terrorist and had a history of frequent visits to Afghanistan.

He fought in the Afghan war from the Taliban side and had affiliation with TTP’s Tipu Gul group, they said.

Pakistan’s law-enforcement agencies and the Sindh government will conduct a “security audit” into the serious security lapses that led to the attack.

Security officials agreed the attack had raised several questions and a ‘proper exercise’ was needed that included a ‘security audit’, according to a media report said on Saturday.