Karachi Navy Dockyard: Attacker Awais got trained in Afghanistan
The weapons recovered from the militants are the one used by the police force, sources reveal.
KARACHI (Dunya News) – According to the investigative sources Awais Jakhrani the militant who got killed, had taken training in Afghanistan 3 months prior to the attack. He was constantly in contact with his militant cohort while at the training.
The investigators have got hold of the record of Awais Jakhrani and his father Superintendent Police (SP) Ali Sher Jakhrani’s mobile phone data, which revealed that Awais had contacted his father quite a few times while Awais was in Afghanistan.
Sources reveal that the weapon recovered from the militants who attacked dockyard belonged to the police and was most probably used by SP Ali Sher Jakhrani, forensic report affirms.
Awais contacted many of his companions before the attack, sources added.
Taliban militants attacked a Karachi naval dockyard in a weekend raid which left a Pakistani officer and two insurgents dead, officials said Tuesday.
An officer and six sailors were also wounded in the attack early Saturday on the high security facility, a navy spokesman said, adding that four attackers had been captured alive.
After interrogating the suspects, the navy said in a statement that intelligence agencies had carried out raids to arrest suspected collaborators and accomplices and had recovered "a large quantity of arms and ammunition".
The Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming they had inside help.
"We claim responsibility for the attack on the navy in Karachi," spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told AFP.
"We had support from inside the naval force for this attack. This operation was successful because of this support. We will continue targeting security forces like this in future also," he added.
The Taliban have already threatened a bloody response to a military offensive against insurgents in the North Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border.
Pakistan s military launched the offensive in mid-June shortly after a brazen attack on Karachi airport that left dozens dead and extinguished a largely fruitless peace process with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The weekend raid was the latest in a series of high-profile attacks on key installations by the Taliban in recent years, including a 2011 assault on a naval base, also in Karachi, and on the military s headquarters in 2009.
North Waziristan has become a major base for the TTP, which rose up against the state in 2007, while the United States has long called for action in the area against militant groups targeting NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Pakistan s army says it has killed more than 900 militants and lost 82 soldiers since the start of the operation.
Earlier, Federal Defence Minister Khwaja Asif addressed the joint session of Parliament on September 10 and said that the Karachi naval dockyard attack could not have been carried out without inside help.
Speaking in the joint session of Parliament, defence minister said that the investigation of the attack on a naval dockyard on the weekend is underway. Revealing details about the attack, he said that three miscreants were killed by the armed forces including an ex-Naval force officer.
He stated that he would not reveal the sensitive details about the attack since it can jeopardize the ongoing investigation. He called the attack on naval dockyard in Karachi an isolated incident.
He also claimed that the attack could possibly be a reaction of the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan. The operation was successful because all the attackers were either killed or arrested, said Khwaja Asif.
He said that no damage was reported at any of the installations. The defence minister also announced that four 30-bore pistols, 3 AK47 combat rifles, 4 9mm pistols, 3 wireless intercoms, 3 satellite phones, four suicide jackets, 24 handcuffs and 7 religious books have also been recovered from the miscreants who have been taken into custody. Without inside help the miscreants couldn’t breach security, said Asif.
He said that some of the security personnel were injuring during the attack while of the army officers was killed. He expressed that during the current circumstances when a military operation is going on in Pakistan to wipe out terrorism, the terrorists are reacting against our security installations and armed forces.
Defence Minister further said that the focus of the government has been diverted because of the protests outside the Parliament. He remarked that the Pakistan Army is fighting for survival of Pakistan whereas the protest leaders are fighting for their own ego. He urged the whole nation to cooperate with them in their fight for the survival of Pakistan.
