Who are Jandullah?

[mujahideen]

Who are Jandullah?

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

By Jamal Khurshid

Karachi

The self-styled militant organisation “Jundullah”. whose members were involved in the fierce gunbattle with police on Tuesday, came into the limelight following the arrest of eight of its activists in Karachi three days after an ambush on a corps commander’s motorcade on June 10, 2004. Two of the activits invloved in Tuesday’s encounter were absconders in the case.

Atta-ur-Rehman alias Ibrahim, Shahzad Ahmed Bajwa, Yaqoob Saeed, Uzair Ahmed, Shoaib Siddiqui, Danish Inam, Najeebullah and Khurrum Saifullah were arrested by police from al-Falah and Model Colony areas on June 13, 2004, after an encounter.

At that time, police also recovered explosive substance and illegal weapons, including two LMGs, two G-3 rifles, 12 Kalashikoves, two 303 rifles, five pistols, six grenades, 15 detonators and live bullets from their possession. Three more activists - Shahzad Mukhtar, Rao Khalid and Adnan Shah - were later arrested by the police which believed that Jundullah men had obtained military training from Waziristan and Wana tribal areas.

Police charge-sheeted them for attacking the motorcade of the then corps commander of Karachi Lt-Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat in Clifton area on June 10 (2004), that resulted in the killing of six Army personnel and three policemen, and leaving 10 others injured.

Later in February 2006, an Anti-Terrorism Court handed down the death penalty to 11 activists of the banned Jundullah after finding them guilty in the corps commander convoy attack case.

Mohammad Qasim (Qasim Toori), Shahab, Bilal, Tayab and Hammad were declared absconders in the said case by the ATC. Of these, Toori and Tayab were involved in Tuesday’s shootout. Toori was captured and Tayab reportedly killed.

The Jundullah activists earlier sentenced to death by the ATC, however, challenged the conviction before the Sindh High Court and their appeal is still pending.

Jundullah activists were also booked by the police for killing law-enforcers at the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station on April 4, 2004; attacking a Rangers mobile van in Ferozabad area on March 19, 2004; engineering twin blasts at PACC on May 26; launching grenade attack in front of Pakistan Bible Society on January 15; bomb blasts at Marina Club on April 10 (2004) and other cases. Other cases against the Jundullah activists are still pending with the ATC.

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

A BANNED MILITANT OUTFIT LIKE LASHKAR E JHANGWE

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Aren't they Baluch terrorist group that is also quite active in Iran?

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

More details:

Policemen and militants killed in fierce clash: Raid on hideout in Karachi’s Shah Latif Town​

By S. Raza Hassan, Imran Ayub & Azfar-ul-Ashfaque


KARACHI, Jan 29: Five people, two of them policemen, were killed and six others injured on Tuesday after a raid by the law enforcers on a house in Shah Latif Town turned into a fierce gun battle with militants.

Police believed the militants belonged to Jandullah, a banned outfit.

Officials confirmed the killing of two militants, but sources said three armed men were gunned down in two encounters in Landhi and Bin Qasim towns.

A spokesman for the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre said one of the injured militants brought to the hospital was found to be clinically dead.

Officials said a police contingent raided a house in Sector 17-A of Shah Latif Town, a residential area in the outskirts of the city along the National Highway.

The police came under fire after it attempted to enter the house, which had been rented out a few weeks ago.

“We have reports that there have been suspicious activities around the house and the police party raided after complete preparation,” said Brigadier (Retd) Akhtar Zamin, the Sindh home minister, after arriving at the scene.

He said the police had recovered heavy explosives and ammunition from the house and also brought women and children out.

“We have rescued four women and two children, one of whom is handicapped. A man living in the house claims that he was kidnapped a few days ago by the militants, but we are investigating.”

The police officials said some 50 policemen raided the newly-constructed 240-yard house, where the alleged militants were living, at 4pm. They had rented out the first floor while the ground floor was vacant.

“First we tried to enter through the proper entrance but found the doors locked. This forced us to enter from the backside,” said a senior official.

He said as the policemen were taking position, they came under a hail of bullets. The security men retaliated, triggering a fierce gun battle.

The exchange led to the killing of Asghar Dahri, a police inspector, on the spot and critically injured Head Constable Raja Tariq, who died on his way to hospital.

Salahuddin, a suspected militant, also lost his life.

People living in the vicinity said the shootout was so intense that it pinned down residents inside their homes.

A police official said four militants carrying ammunition and hand grenades managed to flee the house when the police offered a “ceasefire” and asked the militants to surrender.

“The four militants hijacked a car from the main road and drove it away towards Quaidabad,” said the official. The authorities promptly alerted the Landhi Town police, which intercepted the vehicle in Landhi.

“The militants engaged police in another encounter, The encounter led to the killing of a militant, Abdullah, while another died when a hand grenade exploded in his hands.”

The firing from the militants injured three policemen, including the SP of Landhi Town, Azad Khan. Azad Khan received bullets on his back, head and leg. He was admitted to a private hospital, which put him under observation in the ICU.

Meanwhile, a JPMC official confirmed receiving three bodies. They were identified as Junaid (35), Abdullah (35) and Salahuddin (27).

A police official said two suspected militants, Danish alias Qasim Toori and Tayyab, were being treated amid heavy security.

Panic ensued at the JPMC when a paramedic found a live hand grenade inside the pocket of an injured, Danish alias Qasim Toori.

An eyewitness told Dawn that the staff continued working in the emergency department and also treated the injured militant till the bomb disposal squad arrived.

G ACTION’: olice said it believed that the militants were preparing for a ‘big action’ as the law enforcers had recovered explosives and rockets.

“A whole bag of ball bearing weighing 20-25kgs has been found from inside the home,” a senior official said.
Policemen and militants killed in fierce clash: Raid on hideout in Karachi’s Shah Latif Town -DAWN - Top Stories; January 30, 2008

I must say that local Law Enforcement has really stepped up their efforts since Muharram. We have had a raft of arrests and recovery of explosives, suicide jackets and weapons from several suspects all over the country. This is a very good sign, because without active local LEA's the WoT cannot be won, since the Army cannot police everyone.

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

Aren't they Baluch terrorist group that is also quite active in Iran?

May be you are right!

 

[mujahideen]

I must say that local Law Enforcement has really stepped up their efforts since Muharram. We have had a raft of arrests and recovery of explosives, suicide jackets and weapons from several suspects all over the country. This is a very good sign, because without active local LEA's the WoT cannot be won, since the Army cannot police everyone.

Its about time our Law Enforcement Agencies do their job. I mean for decades they were considered unwilling to take action, but recently they have been taking action. I hope our Law Enforcement Agencies keep up the good work and I wish them all the best.

 

[dabong1]

Shootout echoes across Pakistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - Tuesday afternoon's fierce gun battle in this port city is stark evidence that al-Qaeda-linked sleeper cells have been activated against the Pakistani state.

At least three members of Jundullah (Army of God) were killed in the clash with police and paramilitary forces. Two policemen also died. One of the dead militants was the suspected leader of the cell, Qasim Toori, who was wanted in connection with previous deadly attacks in Pakistan.

Jundullah was founded in the South Waziristan tribal area in 2004 and is now led by Pakistani Taliban Baitullah Mehsud and Tahir



Yuldashev, head of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. In recent weeks, Jundullah has become estranged from the main Taliban movement led by Mullah Omar, who insists that militant activities should be confined to Afghanistan, and not directed against Pakistan.

A senior police officer told Asia Times Online soon after the militants' hideout in a residential area had been seized, "I was stunned watching so much weaponry [being used], ranging from RPGs [rocket propelled grenades] to light machine guns. It appeared they were preparing for a war."

Another top official of a major intelligence agency told Asia Times Online the discovery of the Jundullah cell confirmed Pakistan's suspicions that South Waziristan-linked groups had regrouped in all major cities.

Soon after its inception, Jundullah carried out a foiled attack on a military chief in Karachi in which several soldiers were killed. Within hours, several members involved in the attack were arrested and the network was largely shattered, although Qasim Toori remained at large.

Tuesday's incident underlines fears that the militant violence that has spread from the tribal areas to cities in Northwest Frontier Province is now targeting bigger cities across the country. Most of the violence is blamed on Mehsud, who is now isolated with his allies Yuldashev, Abdul Khaliq Haqqani and assorted Pakistani militants.

The Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan have already agreed on a ceasefire with Pakistan, and are expected to make an announcement to this effect within a few days.

In an interview with this correspondent on satellite phone from an unknown location, Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that when the Pakistani Taliban began fighting against the United States and other allied forces who had occupied Afghanistan, they were united. But subsequently, he said, Baitullah and other Pakistani militants had started fighting the Pakistani military and "we have cut all ties with them and openly disown them".

He said the Taliban have a clear-cut policy of not fighting with any other Muslim country, especially with Pakistan, in any manner, and that they are strictly against fighting the Pakistani military.

"We have been fighting for Afghanistan's independence against foreign aggression since 2001 [when the Taliban were ousted] and the Afghan nation has a lot of hopes resting on us. That's why they have stood with us against the foreign military might. They are not supporting us to fight with Pakistan, but to fight against the US-led NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] forces and liberate Afghanistan," Zabihullah Mujahid said. He said the Taliban had already issued a statement disowning Baitullah on their website (Da Afghanistan Isalami Emarat).

Shootout in the city
A police official present at Tuesday's shootout described the circumstances leading up to it.

The police were tipped off about the presence of a group in the eastern part of the city called Landhi which had been involved in a large bank robbery. The police launched a raid against what they thought was a bunch of criminals, and to their horror were fired on by light machine guns.

Clearly, these were no ordinary robbers, as their weapons and fighting skills quickly demonstrated. After three hours, the paramilitary Rangers were called in, but by then two policemen had been killed.

While the police regrouped, several people in the besieged house jumped from the second floor onto the sandy ground below, where cars were waiting for them and they escaped.

But Qasim Toori was in one of the cars when a hand grenade accidentally exploded and the police were able to capture him. However, soon after he died of injuries sustained in the grenade blast.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at [email protected]