Terrorism-related Incidents in Islamabad - 2013

January 11

Around 4000 personnel of the FC deployed in KP to help the Police in maintaining peace in the province are reaching Islamabad Capital Territory for deployment during the long march of the Tehreek Minhaj-ul-Quran scheduled for January 14. Sources said the federal government directed the commandant of FC to immediately withdraw 4200 personnel assisting the KP Police and multi-national companies in the province for deployment in Islamabad during Tahirul Qadri's long march.

April 23

Police neutralised a major terror bid by recovering an explosives-loaded vehicle which was parked near the Chak Shahzad farmhouse of former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad, the federal capital of Nation.

May 2

A senior prosecutor handling the 26/11 Mumbai attack case and Benazir Bhutto assassination case was shot and killed by unidentified assailants in the busy commercial area of Karachi Company in Islamabad.

June 25

The Islamabad Police arrested two TTP militants involved in the killing of newly-elected Member of the Provincial Assembly [MPA, KP], Farid Khan of the PTI, who was shot dead in Hangu (Hangu District) with his driver on June 3, 2013.

July 31

The son of Water and Power Ministry Deputy Secretary Zafar Mehmood was abducted in Islamabad. The kidnappers have demanded a ransom of PKR 3 million (USD 29,400) ransom for the release of Mehmood's son.

August 2

Security at the Benazir International Airport in Islamabad was been beefed amid intelligence reports of a of a possible terror attack.

August 9

A major terrorism attempt was foiled when a suicide bomber was shot dead at Imambargah (Shia place of worship) in Bara Kahu village, on the outskirt of Islamabad.

Holding Islamabad in terror for six hours an armed man, identified as Muhammad Sikandar, along with his wife and two children, opened fire in the high-security Red Zone of Islamabad, demanding the imposition of Sharia'h in Pakistan. He was later shot and wounded by Police during a standoff in the capital city. The SFs arrested him on the directives of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar.

The ATC sent five suspects arrested in connection with the August 9, 2013, suicide attack on Bara Kahu mosque in Islamabad on a three-day physical remand on Police request.

Benazir International Airport in Islamabad has been sealed and security has been tightened after receiving reports of terror threat. Security has been beefed up at the airport and commandos have been deployed to avert any untoward situation.

Islamabad Police registered a case against Sikandar at Kohsar Police Station under Section 6 of the ATA. His wife, Kanwal, was also named in the FIR.

ATC granted Kanwal, wife of Sikandar who had held Islamabad hostage for hours on August 15, 2013, a seven-day physical remand. Earlier, the duty magistrate had issued a one-day transit remand for Kanwal.

Police arrested two TTP militants, Hammad Adil and Muhammad Tanveer, allegedly involved in the March 2, 2011 killing of former Minister for Minorities' affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, from their hideout in Phulgran area of Islamabad. They were arrested with the help from Intelligence Agencies and a car laden with explosives was also seized from their possession, claimed media reports.

LeT founder and JuD Chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who has USD 10 million US bounty on his head, appeared openly at a rally in Islamabad on September 6, denouncing India as a 'terrorist state' as more than 10,000 of his supporters chanted for "holy war" against India.

Police foiled a terror bid in Islamabad by defusing explosives and arresting five accused, including two women, and recovering a huge amount of explosive material from their possession from a house located in Khayaban-e Kashmir-area of Islamabad. Police also recovered detonators, 20 Kalashnikovs, 4 pistols, hand grenade and a wireless set from the same house.

September 17

The Capital Police found a dead body of a militant, identified as Haris Khan, one of the four accused in the May 3, 2013 assassination of Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali, the FIA prosecutor handling the 26/11 Mumbai attack case and the Benazir Bhutto murder case from Islamabad.

Maulana Abdul Aziz, the chief cleric of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), was acquitted from his last case by a judicial magistrate of Islamabad, Mohammad Naveed Khan. Since 2001, 27 different cases had been registered against Maulana Aziz, and the last one was registered on April 1, 2007 by the Kohsar Police because he had threatened shopkeepers of Aabpara and Jinnah Super Market for selling movies containing indecent content. The first of the 27 cases against Maulana Abdul Aziz and his associates was registered on September 28, 2001, for delivering fiery speeches.

DSP CID, Tofail Baloch while talking to media in Islamabad said that the Police arrested three suspects belonging to a banned outfit who were allegedly involved in target killing and extortion in Karachi from a nearby village in Garhi Afghanan within the jurisdiction of Saddar Police Station at Wah Cantt in Islamabad.

The Islamabad Police and intelligence agencies, in a joint venture, have discovered a drone project, an invention of the al Qaeda chapter in Pakistan, sources said, adding that the joint team of the Islamabad Police and intelligence agencies timely intervened and halted the al Qaeda's ambitious project.

Former MNA belonging to the PML-N Anjum Aqeel Khan, escaped a terror attack, when an explosive device planted by some terrorists at the main entrance of his house at E-11 Golra village in Islamabad was recovered and defused.

The Faisalabad Police arrested four high-profile TTP terrorists, who had planned the abduction of PML-N MPA Malik Mohammad Nawaz and a businessman Shahnawaz alias Shahnawaz Ferrari for swapping them with the TTP's top convicted terrorists housed in the Central Jail in Faisalabad District.

A potential terror bid was averted with the arrest of three suspected militants, identified as Zaman, Ali Haider and Shahzad Hussain, and seizure of a huge quantity of explosives during a covert operation by law enforcers in a house in Sector I10/2 of Islamabad in the night.

The 'chief fundraiser' of the Haqqani Network, Nasiruddin Haqqani, was shot dead by unidentified militants in Islamabad, the Afghan Taliban said. "I can confirm that Nasiruddin Haqqani, 36, was shot dead in Islamabad's Bhara Kahu area on Sunday night. At least four gunmen opened fire on him," an unnamed senior Afghan Taliban source from the Haqqani Network said.

Shahidullah Shahid, the main spokesman for the TTP, claimed, "Nasiruddin Haqqani has been martyred by ISI. He was killed because he bravely supported Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud."

National Directorate of Security, a spy agency of Afghanistan also confirmed Haqqani's death but blamed it on an "internal conflict". It did not give further details.

Nasiruddin Haqqani was the eldest son of the founder of the Network, Jalaluddin Haqqani.

A renowned doctor, identified as Doctor Ehsanullah, who had come from North Waziristan Agency of FATA for an interview for a vacant post of dermatologist, was abducted from the premises of PIMS in Islamabad by unidentified masked men, who were riding in two vehicles, in broad daylight.

An Afghan man said to be on a suicide mission was arrested after a brief encounter with security personnel in Tarnol area, a suburbs of Islamabad.

Unidentified militants abducted four Custom Officials, including Deputy Superintendent Chaudhry Iftikhar, near Motorway in Islamabad.

Five packets of explosive material were found near former President General Pervez Musharraf's Chak Shahzad farm house in Islamabad. Each packet contained around 400-500 grams of explosive material.