MULTAN: Counterterrorism police killed one of the most wanted militants in a shootout in Rawalpindi, a police official said Sunday.
Officer Kashif Hussain said three of the militant’s accomplices escaped during the exchange of fire, leaving their weapons at the scene: two pistols, an assault rifle, and ammunition.
He identified the slain militant only as Niaz and said he also uses the alias Zeeshan. Hussain said Niaz was active with Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Punjab in the Hazro area of the district of Attock.
He said Niaz was also in league with proscribed militant organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).
Hussain said Niaz was wanted in connection with a number of attacks in the region that killed more than two dozen citizens and security officials. There was a $40,000 bounty on his head.
According to Hussain, Niaz was involved in planning a 2015 suicide attack that killed the former Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada, a high-ranking police officer, and others.
Hussain said the counterterrorism department received intelligence that four militants on two motorcycles planned to attack secret service officers so checkpoints were set up on the road linking Attock with Rawalpindi.
Late on Saturday, the targets were spotted approaching the Kheri Murat checkpoint. Hussain said they were asked to stop but instead the motorcyclists opened fire in an attempt to escape.
The TTP have a presence in areas of Punjab province that border Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). They also have made inroads in Punjab near Balochistan.
