An attacker involved in last week’s assault on the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Camp in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar area has alleged, during interrogation, that he was trained in Afghanistan.
The injured terrorist has been identified as Usman Ali, an Afghan national. He was arrested after the attack on the Rangers camp, which has been claimed by the Jamaatul Ahrar terrorist group.
According to the terrorist’s disclosures, he is from Jalalabad in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. He claimed that, apart from him, three other terrorists—Abdul Hadi, Janan, and Umar Farooq—were also involved in the attack.
The assault on the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) camp in Karachi occurred on Saturday night, martyring three Rangers personnel and injuring four others. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the attackers detonated explosives at the main gate of the camp before attempting to breach its perimeter. Following a brief shootout, Rangers foiled the attack, eliminating three militants and capturing one who was injured.
The detained terrorist has said he was shot and injured while attempting to flee after the attack. He said another terrorist, Hadi, was killed during exchange of fire. He said Janan had hurled a bomb at the Rangers camp at the outset of the assault.
According to Ali, his group entered Pakistan seven days prior and stayed with Hadi, a resident of Bajaur. He claimed Hadi had brought the weapons used in the attack from Waziristan, adding the Jamaatul Ahrar’s commander in Afghanistan is Ahrar Maulvi.
The arrested terrorist said all members had received training in Afghanistan, including the preparation of suicide jackets and other militant training under an instructor identified as Umar Qari. “I was provided with a vest; we are trained to assemble suicide jackets ourselves. We all know how to manufacture suicide vests as we received specialized training for this in Afghanistan,” he alleged.
Ali said all arrangements for the group’s travel to Karachi were made in Afghanistan, adding Hadi “was highly familiar with the local area and had operated here previously.”
Islamabad has repeatedly urged the interim Taliban government in Kabul to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil used to attack Pakistan. Officials say the appeals are routinely ignored or downplayed with no action taken against the militants.