KARACHI — The Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Thursday announced the arrest of two alleged members of the outlawed Zainebiyoun Brigade for their involvement in two sectarian killings in Karachi earlier this year.
Speaking at a press conference, CTD Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Azfar Mahesar said that the arrests were made during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) jointly carried out by the CTD and a federal intelligence agency. He said the suspects were linked to recent incidents of sectarian terrorism in the city.
The Zainebiyoun Brigade, which was proscribed by Pakistan in June 2024 and designated by the United States as a terrorist organisation in 2019, is believed to have been involved in targeted killings of workers belonging to the outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ).
The suspects “were involved in recent terrorism cases linked with sectarianism in Karachi,” the DIG CTD claimed. https://t.co/rHvBT62XA1
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) October 23, 2025
According to DIG Mahesar, the suspects confessed to killing ASWJ worker Qari Anas in a targeted attack on Main University Road in Gulistan-i-Jauhar near Samama Shopping Centre, and to the earlier killing of Qari Abdul Rehman in Sherpao Colony in May 2025 “on sectarian grounds.”
CTD Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Irfan Ali Bahadur told Dawn.com that one of the suspects, a Karachi resident whose name appears in the CTD’s Red Book, was previously associated with the “Mehdi Force” of Sipah Mohammad Pakistan and had returned to Pakistan after fleeing to a neighbouring country. He was also allegedly involved in the 2012 armed attack on the convoy of ASWJ leader Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.
The second suspect, originally from Gilgit, had arrived in Karachi eight months ago for targeted killings, according to SSP Bahadur.
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Police said they recovered two 9mm pistols and two hand grenades from the arrested men. DIG Mahesar added that the suspects had “foreign links” and received funding and target lists from a leader based in a neighbouring country.
He said that accomplices connected to the same network had been identified and that CTD teams were pursuing them, expressing confidence that further arrests were imminent.
