Breaking News KARACHI: CID Police suffered a major blow as SP Chaudhry Aslam and two other policemen were martyred while 11 more sustained injuries in a suicide blast in the Essa Nagri area near the Lyari Expressway.
Police said two suicide bombers were waiting in a yellow cab for Aslam’s convoy to pass through the area. The attackers stepped out of the cab and detonated their explosive laden vests after coming close to Aslam’s vehicle. According to police, 100 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.
Police have seized the yellow cab used in the attack and informed the media that its license plate number is PL-3174.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Mohmand Agency claimed responsibility for the attack.
Condemning the attack, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said the attack was being investigated. Memon informed the media that Aslam was travelling in a bullet-proof vehicle.
CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy said the attack will not dampen the morale of Sindh police and the operation against the terrorists would continue.
Meanwhile, CID anti-extremism cell In-charge Raja Umar Khattab said: “Tehreek-e-Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were and still are a threat.”
He vowed to continue the mission of Chaudhry Aslam.
Reactions
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and called Chaudhry Aslam a brave officer, saying his sacrifice would not go to waste.
PPP Patron-in-Chief, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted: “Shaheed Chaudary Aslam had been threatened & attacked B4. He didn't back down. He died a brave man. Shame on cowards.”
MQM chief Altaf Hussain called for the immediate arrest of terrorists behind the attack. He added that terrorist activity in a major city like Karachi was a great cause of concern.
Profile
Chaudhry Aslam, was seen as one of Pakistan’s toughest police officers. He survived several attacks on his life, including a suicide attack on his residence in September 2011 in which almost eight people were killed
Starting his career as an ASI in 1984, Muhammad Aslam Khan, commonly known as Chaudhry Aslam, was serving as the Superintendent Police (SP) of the Central Investigation Department (CID). He had served as a station house officer (SHO) at a number of police stations in the metropolis.
He originally hailed from Manshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Chaudhry was added in front of his name due to his role in the Karachi operation. In 2010, Khan was appointed as a head of the Investigation Wing of the CID. Earlier, he also headed the Lyari Task Force (LTF) to uproot gangsters from Lyari.
But Chaudhry Aslam Khan’s enemies eventually did for him. On Thursday, as his convoy travelled through Karachi in the late afternoon traffic, an explosion targeted his vehicle. He was killed along with three other officers. Initial reports suggested the Taliban was behind the attack.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pays tribute to Mr Aslam, saying his death was a huge loss to the police force. “Chaudhry Aslam was a brave officer,” he said. “We will not let the will of the nation be crushed by these cowardly acts by terrorists.”
Mr Aslam counted everyone from mobsters to militants among his enemies and he had been targeted on numerous occasions. In September 2011, when a Taliban suicide bomber drove a truck through the front gate of his house in Karachi’s Defence neighbourhood and set off a blast that killed eight people, the policeman emerged unhurt, stepping through the damage to denounce the attackers as cowards.
A 29-year veteran of the police service, Mr Aslam had since 2010 been serving as head of the city’s CID unit. Often working at night and typically armed with a Glock pistol, he had received countless awards for his work. In March last year he was awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz award by the president. He had previously served in the anti-terrorism branch.
Pakistan’s Dawn.Com website reported that senior police official Iqbal Mehmood confirmed to reporters that Mr Aslam had been killed in the attack, which took place around 4.40pm close to Karachi’s Lyari Expressway. Reports said the policeman had been returning from an operation targeting militants when the attack on his vehicle happened.
In the aftermath of the killing, a faction of the Taliban from the tribal Mohmand agency reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman told reporters that the attack should serve as a warning to people who worked with the officer.
Precisely how Mr Aslam’s car was targeted was not immediately clear. Some reports suggested the policeman had not been travelling in his usual bomb-proof car. Other reports said witnesses had seen another car following the convoy and there was speculation it may have been carrying explosives.
Karachi, Pakistan’s sprawling port city of more than 20m people, is notorious for its violence. A combination of criminals, politically-affiliated gangs and militants have created a situation where killings and murder are a daily occurrence.
In the aftermath of the attack, television channels showed the scene of the attack on Mr Aslam’s mangled vehicle. A large number of officers were at the scene, with members of the public being kept back behind tape.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pays tribute to Mr Aslam, saying his death was a huge loss to the police force. “Chaudhry Aslam was a brave officer,” he said. “We will not let the will of the nation be crushed by these cowardly acts by terrorists.”
Mr Aslam counted everyone from mobsters to militants among his enemies and he had been targeted on numerous occasions. In September 2011, when a Taliban suicide bomber drove a truck through the front gate of his house in Karachi’s Defence neighbourhood and set off a blast that killed eight people, the policeman emerged unhurt, stepping through the damage to denounce the attackers as cowards.A 29-year veteran of the police service, Mr Aslam had since 2010 been serving as head of the city’s CID unit. Often working at night and typically armed with a Glock pistol, he had received countless awards for his work. In March last year he was awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz award by the president. He had previously served in the anti-terrorism branch.
Pakistan’s Dawn.Com website reported that senior police official Iqbal Mehmood confirmed to reporters that Mr Aslam had been killed in the attack, which took place around 4.40pm close to Karachi’s Lyari Expressway. Reports said the policeman had been returning from an operation targeting militants when the attack on his vehicle happened.
In the aftermath of the killing, a faction of the Taliban from the tribal Mohmand agency reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman told reporters that the attack should serve as a warning to people who worked with the officer.
Precisely how Mr Aslam’s car was targeted was not immediately clear. Some reports suggested the policeman had not been travelling in his usual bomb-proof car. Other reports said witnesses had seen another car following the convoy and there was speculation it may have been carrying explosives.
Karachi, Pakistan’s sprawling port city of more than 20m people, is notorious for its violence. A combination of criminals, politically-affiliated gangs and militants have created a situation where killings and murder are a daily occurrence.
In the aftermath of the attack, television channels showed the scene of the attack on Mr Aslam’s mangled vehicle. A large number of officers were at the scene, with members of the public being kept back behind tape.
A suicide bomb blast by the Taliban killed arguably Pakistan’s best known police-commander, Superintendent of Police (SP) Crime Investigation Department (CID) Chaudhry Aslam, near Essa Nagri at the Lyari Expressway in Karachi on Thursday.
The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who had also carried out an attack on Aslam’s house in 2011, claimed responsibility for the blast.
Shortly after the attack on Thursday, TTP spokesperson in Mohmand, Sajjad Mohmand, told Express News that the group has carried out a “successful” attack to take revenge for several Taliban members killed by the police.
The famed and fearless police officer had 29 years of experience behind him, and ran an elaborate intelligence network across Karachi’s complex web of alliances and bitter, bloody rivalries. Over the years, he had amassed a fortune just from gathering bounties over the dozens of militants and wanted criminals in the country.Earlier during the day, a CID team led by Aslam conducted a raid along the Northern Bypass in the Manghopir area of Karachi and claimed to have killed three militants. A policeman also suffered injuries during the raid.
The police claimed that the killed militants belonged to TTP and they had been planning to carry out a terror attack in the city on the occasion of 8th Rabiul Awal.
Around 25 minutes after the blast, the Aga Khan University Hospital received seven other bodies of injured policemen. Farhan (27) and Kamran (34) were pronounced dead on arrival while Rehmat Ali (27), Mohammad Fayyaz (27), Hazrat Bilal (32), Mohammad Irfan (28) and Farhan Ahmed Khan (28) are understood to be critically injured.
Nature of the blast
Following investigations of the blast, the Inspector General Sindh said at least 20-25 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast.
The bomber smashed his vehicle into Aslam’s convoy and he and two other policemen were killed, senior CID officer Iqbal Mehmood told AFP.
The blast was so powerful that it threw the shattered wreckage of Aslam’s vehicle some 20 metres (65 feet) from where it was hit.
One of Aslam’s colleagues, senior officer Raja Umar Khatab, said it appeared the attackers had carried out a comprehensive recce in preparation for the attack.“It seems that the suicide attacker was inside the car and waiting for Aslam’s car to arrive near him and blew or hit the car with Aslam’s vehicle,” he said.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said about Chaudhry Aslam’s death:
“This is a huge loss for the entire force. His [SP Aslam's] gallant endeavours are not hidden from anyone. He bravely continued the fight against terrorism despite facing threats and having suffered from similar previous attacks. ”
Memon said the tragic incident is being investigated and more details on the nature of the blast will follow.
Profile: “As a Muslim, my faith tells everyone has to die one day. I’m not afraid of it.”
Aslam joined the force in 1987. He became the inspector and station house officer for the Kalakot police station in 1991 and then SHO for Gulbahar in 1994.
He was one of the few officers left alive among those who participated in the infamous clean-up operation against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in the 1990s.
In 2011, following the attack on his house, Chaudhry Aslam was the first to get out of his house and pick up the bodies of the dead and injured.
“I will bury the attackers in the same place here,” he had said then, as he pointed to the 8 by 6 foot crater. “I will not step back. I will carry on with my jihad [against the terrorists] until the day of judgement.”Aslam had been frequently targeted in the past, particularly for carrying out targeted operations against terrorists in the city, but he used to say:
“As a Muslim, my faith tells everyone has to die one day. I’m not afraid of it.”
Chaudhry was a decorated grade-18 officer and his achievements include a Pakistan Police Medal, Qauid-e-Azam Police Medal and the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz awarded by the president on March 23 this year.
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