Sindh Timeline- 2008

Month/Date

Incidents

January 14

11 persons, including two children, were killed and more than 50 persons wounded in a bomb blast in the industrial Landhi suburbs of Gul Ahmadpur in Karachi. "The bomb was planted on a motorbike and exploded outside a textile factory in the Landhi district of Karachi," said senior police official Mohammed Javed. Muneer Ahmed Sheikh, an official of the Bomb Disposal Squad, said the explosion had been caused by a homemade time bomb which contained nails and ball bearings.

January 16

The Hyderabad police arrested three suspected suicide bombers from the city. Police sources said that the three men belonged to Swabi district in the NWFP, and could possibly be suicide bombers. The suspects were between 15 to 17 years of age and were planning to carry out subversive activities at the time of arrest.

January 22

Jahangir Bhatti, a suspected militant who had just arrived from Saudi Arabia, was arrested at the Karachi International Airport and shifted to an undisclosed location. Yousaf Mehsud, a close aide of Baitullah Mehsud — arrested on January 21 in Sohrab Goth Police Station precincts — reportedly provided the information about Bhattiti’s arrival. Police personnel also raided the house of Aitzaz Shah, the 15-year old suspect arrested in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case, in the Pirabad area and arrested his father Zahir Shah and uncle Zohaib Shah. They later raided a madrassa (seminary) at Old Golimar where Aitzaz Shah used to study before leaving for Afghanistan, and arrested two suspected militants.

January 29

The militants who were killed in Sector 89 of the Landhi area had earlier escaped during a police raid on a house behind the Bin Qasim Police Station during which an exchange of fire also took place. Since a police message had already been sent out about an encounter in Shah Latif Town, a police party of Landhi Police Station also set out towards Shah Latif Town and while it was on way, it intercepted the car of fleeing militants near a petrol pump in Sector 89 of Landhi. While the militants were killed and two police personnel injured in the encounter at Landhi, two police personnel were killed in the encounter at Shah Latif Town. Police said at the house they found a huge cache of rocket-propelled grenades, rocket launchers, submachine guns, 25 kilograms of explosives and a bag of ball bearings, which are often used for suicide bombings.

February 4

600 suicide bombers are present in Karachi and they are planning a major attack, revealed two militants Qasim Toori and Danish alias Talha during interrogation by security agencies. Most of the suicide bombers are reportedly former students of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid. The militants confessed, "Around 600 Jundullah militants are present in Karachi. They are mentally prepared and trained to commit suicide attacks." They also confessed that they had robbed foreign banks and dispatched the money to their headquarters in Wana in South Waziristan, from where their needs for weapons, explosives and other necessities were being met.

February 15

The Karachi Police arrested 10 members of a militant organisation linked to the Taliban who were planning massive terrorist attacks in the city during the elections. Addressing a press conference, the Inspector General of Police Azhar Ali Farooqi said the militant outfit, Tehrik-i-Islami Lashkar-i-Muhammadi, had ties with Mullah Dadullah, Taliban commander Tahir and Sirajul Haq Haqqani. He said the group was planning attacks on political and religious leaders and philanthropists, adding that it had also obtained lists of members of the Rotary and Lions clubs and Theosophical Society. Farooqi disclosed that the arrested men were formerly members of other banned outfits, like the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), but after the Lal Masjid operation they formed a group of their own because their former organisations had ‘deviated’ from their mission.

February 17

The Karachi Police arrested six members of the Hizbut Tehrir while they were pasting posters near Shahra-e-Qaideen. Geo News stated that the police arrested Ghulam Ali, Rizwan Ali, Abdul Samad, Talha, Shirafat Ali and Muhammad Sajid, and recovered a large number of posters from their possession. According to the police, the posters read: "Change cannot come with the present democracy and the enforcement of Caliphate is essential for bringing about a change."

February 19

In Sindh, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) won 65 seats out of 125, while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) got 38 and nine seats, respectively. The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) failed to win a single seat while one independent candidate was successful.

February 26

Three members of a militant group have been arrested by police for killing seven Christians in the office of the Idara Amn-o-Insaf, a Christian charity organisation, on September 25, 2002. Acting on the basis of information extracted during the interrogation of 10 activists of the Tehreek-i-Islami and Lashkar-i-Muhammadi recently arrested by police, the CID arrested the three alleged militants in Akhtar Colony. The three suspects were identified as Zubairuddin alias Sharjeel, Asif alias Pasha and Mohammad Atif.

February 29

The banned Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) reportedly drew several hundred supporters near its headquarters in Karachi as it denounced the blasphemous caricatures of the holy Prophet published in some Danish newspapers, and declared jihad against Denmark and the West if they continued to insult Islam. It was the fist major public rally by the SSP since it was banned in 2001. The SSP's protest took place after Friday prayers at the SSP headquarters at Masjid-e-Siddique Akbar in the Nagan Chowrangi area.

March 19

The Karachi Police arrested Mohammad Kashif, an Intermediate student allegedly linked to the Taliban. Police also claimed that he was a member of the HuMA. He was arrested during a raid in Landhi and the police claimed to have recovered weapons and equipment used to seal arms licenses. Kashif reportedly stated that he went to Sialkot in Punjab province a while ago with some friends, became "impressed" with their love for jihad and then decided to go for "jihad training" over there.

March 27

Two officers of the Intelligence Bureau believed to be involved in anti-Al Qaeda operations were shot dead on a busy street near Regal Chowk in Karachi. Tahir Naveed, a police officer, stated that it was apparently a case of targeted killing.

April 25

Various defunct sectarian and militant groups have started re-emerging in the country, especially in Karachi, after remaining underground for the past several years. Activists of some sectarian groups had carried out wall-chalking, hoisted outfit flags and displayed posters to inform the public about their activities, including gatherings in mosques in Karachi. The channel also quoted sources in banned militant outfits as saying that these organisations were active under new names and venues, adding that they had recently held large rallies in Karachi. According to the channel, jihadi groups like the HuM, HM and Al-Badr have established new offices.

June 19

Police arrested Maulana Abdullah Shah Mazhar, former leader of the JeM, from a seminary in the Monghopir area of Karachi. He was accused of holding a conference on the ‘Martyrs of Islam’ in the seminary without the permission of the city administration.

June 20

Taliban have warned transporters in Karachi against supplying oil to coalition forces in Afghanistan, in leaflets distributed and displayed in Shireen Jinnah Colony on Mauripur Road. Oil trucks are parked in the Shireen Jinnah Colony, located near the Kemari Harbour and the Karachi Port Trust. Security and transport companies’ officials said similar leaflets were distributed in parts of the NWFP. Workers from transport companies said the Urdu leaflets threatened to blow up the vehicles and houses of those doing business with the coalition forces, but did not specify if the warning was from local or Afghan Taliban.

June 22

Unidentified armed militants shot dead two policemen and injured four others at Hub in Karachi. The policemen were on a routine patrol of the area when the militants attacked them. Hub Station House Officer Abdullah Jan Afridi told that police have arrested three men allegedly connected to the armed men and added that the militants are affiliated with an unidentified Baloch terrorist group.

July 7

At least 50 persons, including seven children, were injured in a series of seven low-intensity explosions in two busy neighbouring areas of Karachi. The blasts occurred within 90 minutes of each other, striking residential and commercial areas. No deaths have been reported so far. Two of the blasts occurred in Banaras, injuring 16 people. The third explosion, which injured five people, ripped through a mini-truck in North Nazimabad. The fourth bomb was affixed to a motorcycle in the Qasba Colony. A fifth explosion occurred near a children’s school in Hyderi. A policeman was injured in the sixth blast in Manghopir. The seventh blast occurred in Pak Colony, injuring seven people. Sindh Police Inspector General, Sallahuddin Babar Khattak, told AFP "apparently the purpose was to create panic in the city. There is also a possibility that the people who planted the bombs wanted to fan ethnic tensions in the city." He also said that 150-200 grams of explosives were used in each blast.

July 8

Unidentified men blew up a gas pipeline in Nasser Shak in the Jacobabad district. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Supervisory Police Officer, Asghar Ali Shah, said that the pipeline blown up by terrorists was not in use and had been closed for some time.

July 10

A trustee of the Hussainian Iranian Imambargah in Kharadar in Karachi was shot dead. 25-year old Agha Mansoor Ahmed was attacked while he was sitting with some friends at his restaurant on the MA Jinnah Road. "According to the initial investigation, this is a case of a sectarian killing," said Saddar Town Superintendent of Police, Ameer Sheikh.

July 12

According to Daily Times, banned sectarian and jihadi groups are flouting the Government bar and are re-emerging in various parts of Karachi. Dawn News stated that sectarian slogans, flags and posters of defunct sectarian groups are visible on walls across the city, indicating re-emergence of the banned groups. The Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), the Shia group Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP) and Mukhtar Force are the most conspicuous groups, the report added. The channel quoted sources as saying that the sealed offices of the groups have reopened, working under different identities. Some of the groups held meetings in Qayyumabad, North Karachi and Soldier Bazaar, the sources said. Jihadi groups have also enhanced their activities, although in a disguised manner.