Pakistani police have killed the leader of an al Qaeda-linked
militant group that has repeatedly carried out deadly attacks on the country's
Shiite Muslim minority in recent years, authorities said Wednesday.
Malik Ishaq, the
head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was killed during a shootout after armed men on
motorcycles ambushed a police convoy that was transporting him between prisons
in Punjab province, Pakistan's Counter Terrorism Department said.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
is known for targeting Shiites in Sunni-majority Pakistan, including a series of bombings in early 2013 that left more than 160 people dead in
Balochistan province. Ishaq wasdetained by authorities soon after those attacks.
In the clash
with police early Wednesday, the motorcycle-riding attackers freed Ishaq and
two of his sons in the ambush, but police responded with gunfire that killed
the terrorist leader, both of his sons and 12 others, authorities said.
The other
militants fled the scene, according to the Counter Terrorism Department. Six
police officials were injured, it said.
Police had taken
Ishaq and his two sons to another prison to assist in identifying confiscated
arms and explosives, authorities said. The ambush was reported to have taken
place around 3 a.m., during the return journey.
Officials are
investigating the attack.
Ishaq was
believed to have been the mastermind behind the
2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in
Lahore, the main city in Punjab.
More recently,
Laskhar-e Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the January 2014 bombing of a bus
carrying Shiite pilgrims that killed more than 20 people.
The group was
outlawed in Pakistan in 2001 and designated a terrorist organization by the
U.S. State Department in 2003.
The Counter
Terrorism Department described Ishaq's death as "a big blow" to
terrorist organizations in southern Punjab.
No comments:
Post a Comment