Police and Qaeda exchanging fire in Gujrat
By Shahnawaz Khan
LAHORE: Law enforcement agencies on Saturday cordoned off Gulshan Colony, Islam Nagar, Gujrat, to arrest suspected Al Qaeda militants holed up in a house there and both sides were exchanging fire late into the night.
The firing started at about 6:00pm and it has been continuing uninterrupted, witnesses near the scene said. No loss of life or arrests had been reported when this report was filed at 1:00am, but officials were optimistic that they would overpower the militants soon.
Sources told Daily Times that the militants included three foreign nationals who were allegedly involved in attack on the Karachi corps commander on June 10, 2004. Gujrat District Police Officer (DPO) Raja Munawar said 11 people including three women, four children, and a local were holed up inside. Sources said the police and intelligence agencies raided the house on a tip-off from a few Al Qaeda suspects arrested in raids in Multan, Sahiwal and Gujrat. On the basis of information provided by those arrested in Multan and Sahiwal, law enforcement agencies raided Faisal Hotel in Gujrat where the three foreign nationals were hiding. However, they managed to escape, but one of their local aides was arrested in the raid. After gleaning information from the arrested man, the police raided the house where the suspected terrorists have been living in with their families for the last one and a half months. Sources said the three terrorists got the house on rent from Ijaz Warraich, an employee of the Muslim Commercial Bank, Mirpur branch, one and a half months ago.
Witnesses said the police raided the house in the evening to arrest the terrorists but they opened fire on seeing the police. “The police returned fire and both sides started exchanging intense fire,” a witness at the scene said. The militants were also shouting Allah-o-Akbar (God is great), another witness said. “Being Muslims, we should not be arrested. If we die we will die as martyrs and if you are killed you will go to hell,” Intelligence Bureau SSP Naveed Elahi quoted the militants as saying.
The Gujrat DPO told Daily Times on the phone that the two sides had been exchanging fire for the last eight hours. “I was on my routine patrol with a team of the Elite Force when I heard the news of a police encounter with terrorists. I reached the scene immediately. The shootout had already started when I got there. I ordered to fire teargas canisters at the house but the militants were still firing at the police,” Mr Munawar said. He said hundreds of Elite Force officials had sealed off the area and were trying to catch the fugitives alive. He said nearby residents had been evacuated from their houses. He said the militants were using AK-47 and semi automatic rifles. |
