ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Tuesday asserted that the gun attack on Karachi Company’s police precinct in Sector G-8 of Islamabad was not a robbery or dacoity gone awry but an act of terrorism.
A day earlier, a police official – Head Constable Munawar – was killed and two others injured in a rare shootout in Islamabad. According to the police officials, both attackers were killed.
The interior minister was talking to the media after attending the funeral prayers of Head Constable Munawar. According to Rashid, this was the first incident of terror of the current year and “we need to be very alert”.
“Munawar was on duty and terrorists shot a burst of fire on him,” Rashid said, adding, “This was not an incident of theft or robbery. We have received a kind of signal that terrorist incidents have started happening in Islamabad.”
“By giving their lives on the line of duty, the police have proved that Pakistan’s forces are ready to sacrifice their lives for the security of the country,” the interior minister added.
Earlier, the minister ordered an inquiry into the incident, a rare security breach in the heavily guarded capital, which was home to dozens of embassies. Senior Islamabad Police official Shahid Zaman told AFP the incident was “an act of terrorism”.
No group had claimed responsibility for the attack, but the country was battling a resurgence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) following the group’s return to power in Afghanistan last year.
According to police, their personnel were on a routine patrol and had set up a checkpoint at Jillani Chowk. They said the police personnel tried to stop two men on a motorcycle for routine checking when the riders opened fire at the police party.
The four officials retaliated and all suffered bullet wounds. The terror suspects were killed on the spot, while the policemen were shifted to hospital, where the head constable was pronounced dead.
