As most of the proscribed organisation’s top men are under arrest, investigators are revealing how the feared terror group Ansarul Shariah Pakistan used to commit their terror-related activities.
According to sources within the law enforcement agencies, the group’s modus operandi was the same during many of its terror activities including the attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MPA Khawaja Izharul Hassan which led to their arrest.
The group, which according to its chief Abdullah Hashmi, comprises 12 to 15 boys and attacked policemen and the MQM MPA, used the same method most of the time.
During the attack on policemen in Karachi’s S.I.T.E area during Ramadan and then Khawaja Izhar, one group of boys attacked the target while other remained on backup, a little away from the crime scene.
It was revealed that the young boys used to meet at a place before the activity while after the crime, they used to flee the place in different directions to dodge the law enforcers.
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On the other hand, BBC Urdu has claimed that the group was a Daesh splinter group and termed themselves the followers of former Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.
ARY News correspondent Kamil Arif further reported that the group’s members were tech-savvy enough to develop their own application to remain in contact with each other.
The laptops and USB storage devices recovered from the group’s members’ hideouts were hard to decode as they were protected with several passwords and fool-proof technology.
The group’s chief was arrested on September 5 during an intelligence based operation in Karachi’s Gulzar-e-Hijri area.
The man named Shehryar – alias Dr Abdullah Hashmi – told the investigators that Ansarul Shariah was formed back in 2015 and made several attempts to link the group with global terror outfit Al-Qaeda after establishing contacts with one of its operative in Karachi named Abdullah Baloch.
However, he told the investigators that the group was asked to generate funds and operate by themselves, adding that Abdullah had been residing in Karachi till 2012 but left for Afghanistan following a raid at his residence.
The Ansarul Shariah chief admitted receiving militancy training in Shorawak area of Helmand province, Afghanistan and his group comprised 10 to 12 people mostly students from University of Karachi, Dawood University of Engineering & Technology and NED University of Engineering and Technology.
He confessed his group targeting police personnel to receive recognition and prove its mettle in carrying out a terror plot.
Commenting on slain assailant who attacked Khawaja Izhar ul Hassan, Shehryar said that Ahsan had too received militancy training from Afghanistan and was an electronic engineer.
The Ansar ul Shariah chief further told investigators that 27-year-old Ahsan s/o Waleed was a faculty member at Dawood University of Engineering & Technology and used to donate half of his salary to the organization.
Police are also looking for a former KU student Sarosh Siddiqui who is said to have masterminded the attack on MQM MPA.
