The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), in coordination with intelligence agencies, conducted joint raids and arrested five suspected militants allegedly linked to the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Fitna al-Khawarij (FAK).
According to CTD SSP Irfan Bahadur, the arrested suspects include three alleged BLA operatives —Imran Khan alias Shaukat, Zaheer Ahmed, and Muhammad Riaz — as well as two alleged FAK operatives, Hujatullah and Habibullah.
The officer said the three BLA suspects had conducted reconnaissance of sensitive installations on the instructions of a militant commander identified as Abdul Rehman. Investigators further alleged that Zaheer Ahmed was involved in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Sajidi Bazaar, Gashkor, Balochistan, in 2024, in which Frontier Corps personnel were injured. He was also accused of collecting extortion money in the area on behalf of the banned outfit and receiving militant training at a BLA camp during the same year.
According to CTD officials, the suspects were allegedly waiting for the arrival of additional associates to carry out terrorist activities targeting sensitive locations in Karachi. The two alleged FAK operatives reportedly received training at a militant camp in Afghanistan in 2024. CTD claimed that they had recently arrived in Karachi on the instructions of a commander identified as Hidayatullah and had conducted reconnaissance of law enforcement offices before transmitting the information to their handler.
Officials alleged that the suspects were awaiting the arrival of another militant group from Afghanistan before launching planned attacks on designated targets. During the operation, law enforcement personnel recovered a .30-bore pistol, ammunition, loaded magazines, and mobile phones from the suspects’ possession.
The CTD stated that the arrested individuals had been mentioned in various threat-alert reports and that separate cases had been registered against them at CTD Police Station Karachi.
Further investigations were under way, and authorities expect additional disclosures during interrogation. Joint teams comprising CTD personnel and intelligence agencies had been formed to conduct follow-up raids based on information obtained from the suspects.
