Islamabad: Foreigners looking gunmen target another ISI brigadier

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Shakeel Anjum

ISLAMABAD: In yet another terrorist attack on a senior military officer, two motorcyclists attacked a serving brigadier of an intelligence agency on Friday morning, official sources said.

The brigadier and his driver sustained bullet injuries and were immediately shifted to the PIMS hospital. An official of a security agency termed it a security lapse as pillion riding was banned in the capital.

The police, quoting witnesses, said Brigadier Hafiz Suhail Ahmad left his house in Sector I-8/4, along with his driver Lance Naik Muhammad Ramzan, for his office on a Prado Jeep (AH-894) at about 8:30 am. Two gunmen, riding a motorbike (Honda 125), soon intercepted the vehicle and opened fire. “The assailants then disappeared into the adjacent streets leading to Rawalpindi,” the police maintained.

Eyewitnesses, including a retired Army official, claimed that the gunmen looked like foreigners. One of the witnesses said the attacker carrying a Kalashnikov was wearing a doctors’ overcoat and was also carrying a black laptop bag.

Islamabad SSP Tahir Alam Khan, when contacted, said the assailants, wearing trousers and shirts, were in their 20s. He said they were without helmets and had entered Islamabad from the IJP Road despite a ban on pillion riding. The SSP said a Kalashnikov and a 9mm pistol were used in the assault, adding they had recovered 10 empty shells — seven of Kalashnikov and three of a 9mm pistol — from the scene.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Islamabad Syed Kaleem Imam has constituted an investigation team, headed by SSP Islamabad Tahir Alam Khan. Other members of the team are SP (Industrial Area Zone) Abdul Ghaffar Qaisarani, DSP (Industrial Area Circle) Khan Khurshid, DSP (CID) Ehsanullah, DSP (CIA) Bashir Noon and SHO Raja Tahir Hussain.

Dr Waseem Khawaja, spokesman for the PIMS hospital, told The News that the brigadier and his driver were out of danger and had been shifted to PNS Hafiz and the CMH. Brig Suhail, according to Dr Waseem, received two bullet injuries while his driver was hit in the chest.

Three brigadiers have been targeted in the federal capital in the last 15 days. On October 22, Brigadier Moeenuddin Ahmad, on leave from the UN peacekeeping mission, was gunned down in G-11/1 along with his driver Havaldar Asghar Ali. In the second incident, on October 27, Brigadier Waqar Ahmad, deputy director general of the Defence Services Guard (DSG), was attacked in I-9/1.

Agencies add: Minister for Interior Rehman Malik has taken a serious notice of the attack on the brigadier. A press release issued here said the minister had ordered the SHO Industrial Area to arrest the culprits within 24 hours. The minister has also sought a report from the IG Islamabad within three days. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry called upon the people to strictly observe the ban on pillion riding.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=25420