- Gen Raheel Sharif says will leave ‘no stone unturned’ in nabbing Sabri’s murderers, recovering AwaisCOAS tells top level meeting at Corps Headquarters Karachi to continue all-out efforts until the dismantling of all the terrorists’ networks
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, in a high-level briefing at the Rangers Headquarters in Karachi on Sunday, directed all the commanders to leave ‘no stone unturned’ in finding the perpetrators behind the murder of Amjad Sabri and the kidnapping of Awais Shah.
The chief of army staff said that the Karachi operation will continue until all the objectives of the operation have been achieved and there is peace in Karachi.
The army chief’s visit to Karachi comes days after the high-profile kidnapping of the Sindh High Court chief justice’s son Awais Shah and the assassination of famed Qawwal, Amjad Sabri, who was gunned down in Liaquatabad by unidentified motorcyclists in an attack claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Shah’s kidnapping and Sabri’s murder occurred within days of each other, causing fear and panic to spread among the residents of Karachi, where citizens had perceived an improvement in the law and order situation since the initiation of the Rangers-led operation in 2013.
Gen Raheel was briefed in detail by Director General (DG) Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar on the paramilitary force’s ongoing operation, the law and order situation and the way forward for Karachi during the meeting.
Referring to the incidents, the army chief directed all the commanders, including those of intelligence agencies, to continue working hand in hand, leaving no stone unturned in trying to finding the perpetrators.
Gen Raheel said the determination, courage and resolve of the Sindh Rangers to rid Karachi of terrorists and criminals has earned them wide respect from the citizens.
Sabri, a Sufi singer and Qawwali maestro, was shot dead by gunmen in a central Karachi neighbourhood, Liaquatabad, on Wednesday, triggering an outpouring of grief nationwide. Awais Ali Shah, a high court lawyer, was abducted near the Agha’s supermarket on Monday with police fearing the kidnapping may be used as a ‘bargaining chip’ to secure the release of some captured militants.
MEETING AT CORPS HEADQUARTERS, KARACHI:
In the evening, General Raheel Sharif visited Corps Headquarters Karachi. Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan, National Security Advisor (NSA) Lt Gen (r) Nasser Janjua, Sindh governor and CM, Home Minister Sindh Sohail Anwar Sial, DG ISI and the Corps Commander also attended the meeting. Participants were briefed in detail about security situation and various aspects of ongoing operation against terrorists, criminals and their linkages in Karachi.
The COAS said that the ongoing operation had brought about a noticeable improvement in the law and order situation of Karachi.
“However, as we progress to target the crime and terror syndicate network, we need to keep our focus on actionable human and technical intelligence and totally dismantle their support structure,” the COAS said.
He said that the Karachi operation has now entered into a phase where terrorists and their abettors are badly bruised, isolated; and hence, will go for softer targets in order to undermine the society psychologically. The COAS instructed all the authorities concerned to hunt down the terrorists and pre-empt their moves to frustrate their designs.
“We must continue our mission unabated to consolidate and not let anyone reverse our gains.”
Expressing his assurance to the people of Karachi the COAS emphasised that the nexus of terrorists, their abettors, sympathisers and financiers will be broken at all costs and the ongoing operation will be taken to its logical conclusion. He urged upon all the stakeholders to make earnest efforts in their respective spheres within the overall ‘Whole of the Nation Approach’ for overcoming the menace of terrorism.
He also instructed to introduce measures to build capacity of other law enforcers for lasting peace in the economic hub of the country.
WORSENING LAW AND ORDER SITUATION:
The COAS reiterated that the Karachi operation focuses on the entire network of terrorists, their abettors and financiers, and will continue until peace is restored in the city.
Every form of assistance, including intelligence and material combat support, will be provided to the Rangers to accomplish their mission, he said.
As law enforcement agencies count successes in the ongoing operation against terrorists, banned outfits and militant wings of political and religious organisations, Karachiites have faced a sudden rise in street crimes, which has cost at least four lives during the first 10 days of Ramazan and raised fears for the days ahead.
Official data shows a sharp rise in cell phone and motorbike snatching in the first 10 days of the holy month compared to crime rate during the corresponding period before Ramazan, indicating renewed activities of armed groups and individuals in the city despite ongoing Rangers-led operation.
THE KARACHI OPERATION:
The ‘operation’ against criminal elements in Pakistan’s commercial hub was initiated back in September 2013 after the federal cabinet empowered Rangers to lead a targeted advance with the support of police against criminals already identified by federal military and civilian agencies for their alleged involvement in targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom, extortion and terrorism in Karachi.
A high-level apex committee meeting chaired by the Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif on May 14, 2015 decided to implement effective policing and surveillance in the “vast suburbs of Karachi”, to prevent what the military spokesperson said were “sneaking terrorist attacks”.
Amid resentment and criticism from certain political circles over the Karachi operation, the military establishment in August said that there would be no let-up in actions by law enforcement agencies “to ensure a peaceful and terror-free Karachi”.
Although terror-related incidents have decreased up to 60 per cent in the two years since the commencement of the Karachi operation, sleeper cells of terror outfits still exist in the metropolis and law enforcers have been making concerted efforts to eliminate them, Karachi Police AIG Mushtaq Maher said in September last year.
The city police chief had said 3,000 hardcore criminals have been arrested, while 246 terrorists, 38 kidnappers and ten extortionists have been killed so far in police encounters.
Maher had said that car-snatching incidents reported in the city are the lowest in the past 15 years while motorcycle-snatching incidents are on the rise, which he said will be curtailed.
Rangers spokesman Colonel Amjad maintained that 913 terrorists including 550 target killers were nabbed while 15,400 illegal weapons were recovered from the custody of criminals operating within the city.
Don"t treat Karachi as a occupied city,accept the mandate give administrative power with local police to be run by the people of Karachi and stop supporting PSP and make the operation apolitical ..
The army chief was honour-bound to have ask about results of the inquiry that he had ordered relating to the torture and death of a senior MQM member Aftab Ahmed, a Coordinator of the MQM top leader Farooq Sattar who was no less a Pakistani than others.
Two years of tough operation where Karachi police also performed exceptionally well, Rangers enjoyed special powers, army backing and help of agencies, would certainly have produced better results had the Rangers stayed on course without straying into unrelated fields. Substantial time and resources were wasted by focusing on Dr. Asim Hussain in matters outside Rangers mandate and allegedly running a sort of political map-change operation to cripple MQM and to pave way for other parties: PSP for example, joining which seems to give instant immunity to people irrespective of their past.
It is time to drop MQM-obsession and concentrate on jet black terrorists who remain unscathed and strike and kill at will.
Karachi
It is good to hear that army chief General Raheel Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan arrived in Karachi on Sunday to attend a detailed briefing session on the city’s law and order situation.
However, this should not be taken as a customary huddle which we see on such occasions, and which is meant to convey the message to the masses that they take the matter seriously.
Now, two years is a long enough period to enable one to make a deep study of various factors and to examine whether the operation achieved results, attainable within the time elapsed, and more importantly, to see whether whether its direction has been exactly as it ought to have been and if not, why not, and whether a new team should be placed on the job with strict orders not to swerve.
Now, comparing with the immediate past, we note that the law and order situation in Karachi seems to be on the mend and one gets the impression that all is almost well, apart from mobile and motor cycle snatching etc, and then suddenly we had a spate of attacks which have thoroughly shaken public confidence.
In fact, after two years of operation during which Karachi police also performed exceptionally well, and army-officered and backed Rangers were given special powers, and former DG Sindh Rangers, now ISI chief, Lt-Gen. Rizwan Akhtar probably also in the loop right from the start, one hoped that the results achieved could and should have been better than what we are experiencing now.
I think the problem is that while making the right start, somewhere along the line, the Rangers lost sight of their real objective , and got involved in extraneous activities like excessive involvement with Dr. Asim Hussain on matters which were clearly beyond their mandate, as also in the alleged political map-change operations, as demonstrated by virtual immunity to those joining PSP. And we also saw media trial as well as hounding of MQM by other means After torture and death of senior MQM member, and Coordinator of MQM top leader Farooq Sattar, Aftab Ahmed in Rangers custody – and announcement of an investigation by the army chief – instead of punishment to the culprits, what we heard next was the besieging of Farooq Sattar's house and filing of an FIR against his Media Coordinator, as if to show that the force remains undeterred and unrestrained. There are other odd things like the high ups with close links with the Lyari gang have been left almost untouched and the alleged killer of 198 persons, Uzair Baloch did not have much of video exposure and neither does he appear to have been subjected to rough treatment like that usually given to MQM people. It seemed as if in exchange for being given a free hand against MQM, all else was forgiven and forgotten. It is time to give up this MQM-obssession and to attend to real issues.
Unfortunately, the shifting of focus by the Rangers away from the militant and terrorist outfits – which were not really crippled even in the first wave of operation against them – has enabled them to regroup and consolidate their position. In this no-war, no-peace mode, while the terrorists and militants may be lying low, they retain their ability to strike at will, which ability they demonstrate every now and then, like in the killing of seven policemen in Orangi within an hour, and that of another two later. And now we have killing of most popular Qawwal Amjad Sabri and kidnapping of Awais Shah, with later incident looking like the work of an outfit with cross-province, or maybe cross-country affiliations.
Maybe DG Rangers and Karachi Corps Commander have been influenced by the politics-laden atmosphere of Karachi, and need to be instructed by the army chief to concentrate on their main task for which Rangers have been given special powers.
Better still, with transfers being a normal thing in the armed forces, the two could be replaced by yet others who could make a fresh start unburdened by the past controversies, and who could chalk out a clear programme taking into account the strong points as well as the weaknesses of the operation so far. The law and order situation of the biggest city of Pakistan needs to be taken seriously, and deserves to be given single-minded attention by devoted, unbiased individuals who can resist the temptation to get involved in 'extra-curricular' activities, no matter how attractive these may appear from various angles.
Karachi
En jävel sitter i PT som administrerar kommentarer om de moderata men själv fattar ju ingenting om kommetarer är moderata eller inte
Rangers and police are doing a good work but the government should understand that they are governing a port city not a village ! there should be a proper security check-up on entry points of the city and a sophisticated security mechanism inside the port city….plus the government should raise a separate anti-street crime police department just like the Punjab government has launched a dolphin police force.
آرمی چیف کراچی آیے آرمی چیف بھی آفتاب حسین شہید کے قتل پر خاموش ہوکر چلے گیے رینجرز نے خود آفتاب بھائ کے قتل کا اعتراف کیا تھا آرمی چیف آفتاب حسین شہید کے قاتلوں کے سامنے بے بس نظر آئے اور ابھی تک آفتاب حسین شہید کے قاتل رینجرز کے اہلکار گرفتار نہیں ھوئے اور ڈی جی رینجرز آرمی چیف عدالت اور خکومت نے آفتاب حسین شہید کے قاتلوں کو تحفظ دے رکھا ھے
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