Pakistan police raid scores of Karachi seminaries after killings

World Monday 07/November/2016 17:39 PM
By: Times News Service
Pakistan police raid scores of Karachi seminaries after killings

KARACHI: Pakistani police arrested dozens of people in a crackdown on more than 90 seminaries in Karachi, following a series of sectarian shootings in the country's largest city, officials said on Monday.
Provincial police chief Allah Dino Khwaja told Reuters the crackdown was aimed at both majority and minority sect seminaries.
Five supporters of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ were killed in drive-by attacks in Karachi on Friday.
On October 29, five members of the minority sect were shot dead at a gathering in the city's North Nazimabad area, an attack claimed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami, one of ASWJ's offshoots.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that "dozens" had been arrested in the crackdown.
Among them were two men, members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, responsible for 28 targeted attacks on members of the minority sect and security forces, provincial Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told reporters.
The men were responsible for several high-profile attacks, including the killing of celebrated Sufi singer Amjad Sabri earlier this year, and the October 29 attack.
Shah said that a "huge number" of weapons had been recovered after their arrests.
Over the weekend, three prominent leaders of the minority sect community were picked up by security forces for their alleged role in Friday's shootings.
The arrests prompted protests by members of the minority sect in the Malir area of Karachi, where demonstrators blocked a road and were forcibly cleared by police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and automatic weapons.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.
Police also searched the Siddiq-e-Akbar mosque, considered the Karachi headquarters of the ASWJ, on Monday.
The group's secretary-general, Taj Hanafi, and 10 other suspects were detained, said a police official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The ASWJ was officially banned as a terrorist organisation in 2012, but its workers continue to operate openly.
Violent crime has dropped significantly in Karachi, a teeming metropolis of more than 18 million people, since the launch of a paramilitary operation three years ago.