Four militants doing recce of Rao Anwar killed in police encounter

KARACHI: Four militants, who were apparently doing recce of police officer Rao Anwar, were killed in an alleged police encounter near Malir Cantt Area.

According to SSP Malir Anwar, those killed in exchange of fire with police were identified as Mehr Badshah, Haider Ali, Qari Alamgir and Muhammad Iqbal. They were affiliated with banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and one of its offshoots Jamat-ul-Ahrar, he said.

Qari Alamgir is said to be chief of TTP's Karachi chapter.

“Militants started chasing me in a vehicle and a motorbike as I left home with a police escort,” said Rao Anwar, who has survived at least two other attempts on his life.

He said militants opened fire as police intercepted the car and bike. The police also retaliated, killing one of the militants on the spot. He added the three others ran away but police killed them later in an exchange of fire.

Another senior police official, Najeeb Khan, confirmed the incident and said the militants were wanted for several attacks on law enforcement agencies in Karachi.

It was second attempt on Anwar in little over a month. He survived a gun and grenade attack in early May in which five of the attackers were killed.

Anwar was also attacked by a suicide bomber in April 2012 while travelling home from his office. Four of his security personnel were killed in that incident.

As the top counter-terrorism police officer in Karachi, dozens of TTP militants have been killed in operations under his command in the past few months, according to local officials.

Police and paramilitary Rangers have been carrying out a major cleanup in the city since 2013 which has reduced the level of violent crime.

Karachi, Pakistan’s economic heart and home to some 18 million people, is rife with criminal, ethnic, political and sectarian killings which claim hundreds of lives each year–AFP/Geo News