KARACHI, 20 May 2004 — A wanted terrorist was arrested yesterday after a shootout in the central district of Karachi, a senior police official said.
The arrested man was wounded and was operated upon at a hospital heavily guarded by police and paramilitary rangers, doctors said. One female passerby was killed in the shootout. The suspect, Kamran Atif, belongs to the Harkatul Mujahedeen Al-Aalmi organization and was among the most wanted person in connection with terrorism in Karachi, police said.
“The suspect was involved in the US Consulate suicide bombing in 2002 and the attempt on President Pervez Musharraf’s life in the port city of Karachi,” police said. The government had announced a 3 million rupees ($52,000) bounty for his arrest.
“A CIA police team raided a house in Sector 15-A/4 in the Buffer Zone area in central Karachi on a tip off. The suspect tried to flee which led to a shootout and subsequently his arrest,” a senior police official said. One of the suspect’s colleagues fled the scene, he added.
Extremists launched suicide attacks on the US Consulate and targeted a Pakistan Navy bus carrying Frenchmen working on a submarine project. Police have uncovered at least three plots to kill President Musharraf in Karachi. In all these cases Al-Aalmi members were involved. Some of them, including its chief, have been arrested and sentenced by the court in connection with the US Consulate bombing.
