Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department has said on Saturday that a key militant working for the enemy intelligence agency involved in the attack on Pakistan’s Grand Mufti Taqi Usmani and associated with the Zainabyun Brigade has been arrested from Karachi.
In a press release issued by the CTD spokesperson, it was said that the suspect Muhammad Mehdi, who was arrested during the operation in Soldier Bazar area based on intelligence, belongs to the Zainabion Brigade, which is also working for the neighboring country. does.
According to the spokesperson: ‘The accused told during interrogation that he used to rekey high-value targets, which he used to inform his accomplices Syed Raza Jafri and Abid Raza who would shoot and kill the target.’
In the statement, it was further mentioned about the accused that he used to keep the arms and ammunition received by the enemy intelligence agency in his house and provided hand grenade arms and ammunition to hit the target when required. and also works for the purchase and sale of weapons.’
According to the press release, the accused further said that his associates Syed Raza Jafri and Abid Raza Mufti were also involved in attacking Taqi Usmani.
CTD further said that a pistol and six bullets were also recovered from the possession of the accused. Investigation of the accused is ongoing and further revelations are expected.
In March 2019, unidentified gunmen attacked the teachers of Darul Uloom Korangi near Nipa Chowrangi in Gulshan Iqbal Town, Karachi, in which two people were killed while Mufti Taqi Usmani was unharmed in the attack.
How did the organization Zenbione Brigade come into being?
Anti-government protests in 2011 against Bashar al-Assad, who became president of Syria in 2000, and peaceful protests against unemployment, corruption and political sanctions soon turned into open civil war.
After the war broke out in Syria, extremist organizations from many countries moved there. According to the American security and consulting firm Sufan Group, as of 2016, there were extremist organizations from 81 countries in Syria, but it took some time for Pakistani extremist organizations to enter Syria.
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In 2013, after the attack on the shrine of Bibi Zainab and other holy places in the Syrian capital Damascus, two organizations were formed to protect the shrine, in which Pakistanis were recruited from the Zainabiun Brigade of the Pakistani militant group Sepah Muhammad to go to Syria. Can participate in the fight.
In 2015, the Zainabion Brigade’s ongoing recruitment campaign on social media stated that the age group of Zainabion Brigade recruits was between 18 and 35 years old. The recruit will get a monthly salary of USD 1200 and 15 days vacation every three months. Well, the recruitment was done from all over Pakistan, but the majority joined from Para Chinar and former FATA. While some Baloch were also recruited, it is not yet known whether they belonged to Pakistani Balochistan or Iranian Balochistan.
In addition, a group of Afghan volunteers called the Fatemiyoun Brigade was formed to fight in Syria. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Quds Force recruited more than 3 million Afghan refugees in Iran into the Fatemiyoun Brigade. Iran had announced to grant Iranian citizenship to the Afghans recruited in the Fatemiyoun Brigade, while the Revolutionary Guards and the Quds Force gave the volunteers a monthly salary of 1100 Amirs.
CTD DIG Umar Shahid earlier told Independent Urdu that Pakistani volunteers of the Zainbyoun Brigade and Afghan volunteers of the Fatemiyoun Brigade went to fight militants in Syria through the Quds Force, the wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. .
According to him: ‘All types of Shias from Pakistan including Urdu-speaking Shias, Para Chinar and Gilgit Shias went to the Zainbeon Brigade. It is difficult to estimate the exact number of people from Pakistan who went to Syria to participate in the fighting, as some went illegally and some went on religious pilgrimages and went to Syria from there. I estimate that 2,000 to 8,000 people have gone to Syria from Pakistan.
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