In a major counter-terrorism breakthrough, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), in coordination with a federal civil intelligence agency, apprehended a highly wanted terrorist during a joint operation. The arrested operative, identified as Salman alias Abu Hurairah, belongs to the notorious Molvi Mukhlas Group of the banned Fitna-al-Khawarij (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan – TTP). Law enforcement agencies recovered a suicide vest, maps, and photographs of highly sensitive locations from his possession, effectively foiling a catastrophic attack.
During the initial interrogation, shocking revelations emerged regarding the suspect’s background and the network’s extensive operational history. Salman is a trained suicide bomber who received advanced commando and suicide-tactics training in Afghanistan. He was a close associate of Zafaran, a high-profile terrorist with a PKR 10 million bounty who was previously eliminated in a shootout. This specific cell was notoriously involved in an armed attack on foreign nationals at Liberty Textile Mills within the SITE-A police jurisdiction. Following Zafaran’s death, Molvi Mukhlas Yar, the current head of the TTP’s Special Suicide Bombing Camp, dispatched Salman and an accomplice, Idris alias Asadullah, to Karachi. Their immediate mandate was to execute target killings, which were to be followed by a massive, coordinated suicide bombing campaign once additional suicide bombers arrived in the city.
Investigation officials further revealed that this network has a history of lethal footprints across the country. One of Salman’s close associates was killed while executing a suicide attack on the FC in Quetta in 2025, while another associate perished in the 2025 Dera Ismail Khan Police Training Center bombing. The CTD has also identified several high-ranking cross-border handlers linked to this network, including Afghanistan-based commanders Sher Zaman, Muhammad Shoaib Iqbal alias Muneeb Cheema, and Izhar-ul-Haq alias Molvi Hamza.
Currently, two formal cases (FIR No. 51/2026 and 25/2026) have been registered against the apprehended terrorist at the CTD police station. Interrogations are actively underway to extract deeper intelligence regarding the network’s infrastructure. To capitalize on this breakthrough, joint specialized teams have been formed to conduct targeted raids across the region to hunt down the remaining facilitators, target killers, and sleeper cell members, with further major arrests expected in the coming days.
