LEAs arrest another Ansarul Shariah suspect from Multan

KARACHI: In another major breakthrough, intelligence agencies on Thursday morning arrested another suspected terrorist affiliating with Ansarul Shariah Pakistan during a raid in Multan city, sources said.

The suspect has been identified as Talha Ansari who allegedly had taken shelter in Multan after fleeing from Karachi to evade arrest.

According to informed sources, many other accomplices of the suspect have already been detained in a weeks-long crackdown against Ansarul Shariah.

Ansarul Shariah – a militant group – became notorious recently after carrying out a botched assassination attempt on Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) senior leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan on Eid day last week.

Yesterday, security forces claimed to have arrested two Ansarul Shariah men in two separate raids in Quetta city and Pishin district of Balochistan province.

According to ARY News correspondent Shahid Rind, the two men, namely Professor Mushtaq and Mufti Habib, were arrested from the province during intelligence based operations.

The duo is said to be teachers of Ansarul Shariah members arrested from Karachi.

Professor Mushtaq reportedly taught at Karachi University while Mufti Habib ran two seminaries in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Police and security forces have already arrested Shehryar, the head of the proscribed organization, and some of his aides after the attack on MQM-P lawmaker Khawaja Izharul Hassan.

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.