Al Qaeda members held from army garrison in Karachi

• Military Intelligence arrests two prayer leaders from Malir Garrison who were allegedly brainwashing army personnel and affluent youths for ‘jihad’
• Prayer leader Qari Liaqat was serving in mosque of army ammunition depot and was reportedly planning massive attack in garrison

The Military Intelligence (MI) has arrested two suspected members of al Qaeda in the Indian Sub-continent from Malir Garrison in the port city in the recent days, Pakistan Today has learnt reliably.

According to sources, the suspected al Qaeda members were serving as prayer leaders in two different mosques of the garrison.

The MI had previously arrested four suspects associated with al Qaeda from Malir Garrison and seized arms and ammunition and drone cameras from their possession. Per reports, three of them were serving army personnel.

The two prayer leaders arrested recently have been identified as Mufti Naeem of Askari Phase-V mosque and Qari Liaqat, who was serving in a mosque close to the army’s ammunition depot inside the garrison.

Mufti Naeem is said to have been persuading army personnel to join al Qaeda. After his disclosures, the MI conducted a raid in Askari Phase-IV and arrested a suspect, reportedly the son of a senior army official. The suspect told interrogators that he had joined al Qaeda on the insistence of Mufti Naeem, sources claimed.

Mufti Naeem disclosed during investigation that he also raised funds for al Qaeda besides persuading youths living in DHA and Clifton to finance the ‘jihad’ against non-Muslims.

The other prayer leader, Qari Liaquat, taught Islamic learning in CBMM School in Malir Cantt and lived in quarters allotted to the staff of the army ammunition depot within the depot’s premises.

Like Mufti Naeem, he is also accused of recruiting army personnel in al Qaeda besides raising funds for the global terror outfit.

Sources told Pakistan Today that during investigation, Qari Liaquat had revealed that he and his group members were planning to carry out a major terrorist attack in Malir Garrison.

Following the arrest of the two prayer leaders, MI has launched an operation and interrogated prayer leaders of mosques of all the battalions. They were also questioned about their links with the heads of madrassas outside Malir Garrison, sources revealed.

Malir SSP Rao Anwar, when approached to verify arrest of the two prayer leaders by MI, said that he was not privy to the development.

“MI has its own system and they do not share with police details of raids and arrests they make,” he said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, refused to comment on the arrests despite repeated enquiries.

ISPR spokesman Major Sadaqat Ali was asked on the phone as well as in person if he could confirm or deny the veracity of the information but he chose to keep silent.