Five killed in raid on Taleban terror cell

Published on Saturday 27 June 2009 19:44

POLICE killed five suspected militants yesterday in a raid on a Karachi apartment housing insurgents loyal to the Pakistani Taleban leader blamed for a wave of suicide attacks.

City police chief Waseem Ahmed said officers found a large quantity of weapons and explosives. He said the militants were planning terror attacks in Pakistan's biggest city.

Police taking part in the early morning raid told the militants to surrender, but they opened fire, Ahmed said. In the ensuing battle, five militants were killed, five were wounded and six escaped in the darkness, he said. "All the dead belonged to Baitullah Mehsud. They were planning to target the city for their terrorist activities," Ahmed said.

Mehsud is blamed for suicide bombings across Pakistan that spokesmen for his group say is in retaliation for two offensives against the Taleban in the volatile north-west.

After two months of fighting, troops are winding down their campaign to oust the Taleban from the Swat Valley region and are targeting Mehsud in his home territory of South Waziristan, in the tribal belt on the Afghan border. Artillery and warplanes continued to bomb South Waziristan yesterday, killing 15 insurgents and wounding 13 more, intelligence officials said.

A Taleban commander, Qari Hussain Ahmad, denied militants had been killed. "The jets are bombing, but we have not suffered any loss," Hussain said by telephone.

The Taleban also came under attack in the Upper Dir region bordering Swat, where a 1,000-strong citizen militia has killed an estimated two dozen militants and has others pinned down in the villages of Ghazai Gay and Shatkas. The militia was formed early this month to avenge a mosque bombing that killed 33 people.

Malik Motabar Khan, a tribal elder leading the militia, said up to five militants were killed. "We are here until we kill all of them or we expel them," he said.

The government has encouraged local militias, known as lashkars, to assist military forces.