SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
Security forces arrested three suspects involved in an attack at Karachi naval dockyard from the Lak Pass area of Quetta the other day, a security official said.
A security official, who requested anonymity, told Dawn.com that acting on intelligence reports, security forces conducted raids in the outskirts of Quetta and picked up three suspects.
“The suspects are Navy officials,” he added, giving no details about their ranks.
They were shifted to Karachi on a plane from Quetta for further interrogation.
The suspects were trying to escape to Afghanistan, when they were intercepted by security forces.
He said some suspects were also apprehended by security forces from Ormara and Karachi after the initial interrogation.
The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have already claimed responsibility for the attack on the naval dockyard, claiming they had inside help.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has on record said “some of the navy staff of commissioned ranks and some outsiders” were involved in the terrorist strike.
Militants attacked the naval dockyard in a raid which left an officer and two insurgents dead.
The Taliban have already threatened a bloody response to a military offensive against insurgents in North Waziristan on the Afghan border.
The 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 TTP.
The weekend raid was the latest in a series of high-profile attacks on key installations by the Taliban in recent years, including an 2011 assault on a naval base, also in Karachi, and on the military’s headquarters in 2009.
New al Qaeda South Asia arm claims Karachi attack
Meanwhile, foreign news agency AFP reported that al Qaeda’s new South Asia chapter has claimed responsibility for the Karachi naval yard attack, claiming former military officers had helped in the attack.
It is the first attack claimed by the terror network’s new wing, whose creation was announced by chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri last week.
“The operation near Karachi shore was an attack by al Qaeda in the Subcontinent,” an Urdu-language statement from the group sent to AFP said.
It claimed that the target of the raid was a “US supply ship” and said the dead attackers included former Pakistan navy officers. It was not immediately possible to confirm whether a US ship was present at the port. Militant groups in the region often exaggerate claims about attacks.
Commodore Nadeem Bukhari, a spokesman for the Pakistan navy said an investigation into the attack was under way. “It cannot be ruled out but it is still premature to say that it was an inside work,” he told AFP.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
