Pakistani police detained a senior leader af al Qaeda’s network in Karachi during raids in the southern city as more information on al Qaeda’s network inPakistan comes to light.
Police captured a senior terrorist leader named Rahimullah during a early morning raid in the port city. Rahimullah’s capture led to a follow-on raid that targeted a suicide bombing cell.
Three terrorists were killed during the raid after throwing hand grenades at the police. A gun battle and an explosion was reported. Police indicated the bombers blew up their vests, but a doctor and other witnesses said the men were shot a point-blank range. Police later found C4 explosives, suicide vests, submachineguns, pistols, hand grenades, and jihadi literature at the scene of the attack.
Rahimullah, whose real name is Ali Hassan, was reported to have been appointed as the leader of the consolidated terror groups in Karachi by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. Rahimullah “established contact with Baitullah Mehsud and many Karachi-based activists,” earlier this year, Daily Times reported. He was “affiliated” with the Pakistan terror groups Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Harakat-ul-Mujahideen.
Laskhar-e-Jhangvi, Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and several other Pakistani terror groups have merged with al Qaeda in Pakistan, and operate under the name of Brigade 313. This group is interlinked with Pakistan’s Taliban and also recruits senior members of Pakistan’s military and intelligence services, a senior US official told The Long War Journal. The unit has been many of the high-profile attacks and bombings inside Pakistan, including multiple assassination attempts against former President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Gilani.
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Matiur Rehman, image from ABC News |
Brigade 313 is led by Qari Saifullah Akhtar, the influential leader of the Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. Akhtar has direct links with Mullah Omar, Osama bin Laden, and Ayman al Zawahiri. Akhtar has been implicated in the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on Sept. 20.
Matiur Rehman, the man who is know as possessing al Qaeda’s membership “rolodex,” is also a senior leader in the group. Rehman was behind the foiled 2006 London airline attack and at the time was thought to be the chief of al Qaeda in Pakistan.
9 Comments
This COULD be good news, if they don’t cut him loose as part of another half-baked peace accord.
Seems like the Pakistanis are getting serious after the Marriott bombing. Its too bad that 50 people had to die for them to start taking the fight to the militants, but we will take it.
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Its interesting that a doctor would contradict Pakistani troops. This is a possible warning sign that the insurgents could be gathering sympathy from the local population.
In hot spots like Palestine, Fallujah and Sadr City the medical profession has had a long history of collaboration with terrorists.
I’m not saying that this is the case here; especially because the Pakistani Security Services are notoriously unreliable… it just throws up a red flag.
The link to this doctor’s story doesn’t mention anything like this. The house was clearly destroyed by an explosion from the pictures I have seen.
Exciting news, Karachi is in AQ roots. This is where Jundullah/HuJI and the criminal gangs all blend together.
I don’t find the doctor contradiction surprising. Jundullah is mostly doctors and lawyers.
In the next to last paragraph of your article you state that the hotel bombing was in Karachi, but as all know and as is stated earlier in your article, the Marriott hotel bombing was in Islamabad.
Hmm…I dont get it how one of the reader above has coupled in the Doctor in the story?