5 arrested, terrorist plot targeting railway tracks in Karachi foiled: Sindh CTD
KARACHI: The Sindh Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) on Friday arrested five members of the proscribed Baloch Republican Guard (BRG), who were allegedly planning to carry out an attack on railway tracks in Karachi.
In a press release, the department said that it conducted a joint intelligence-based operation (IBO) with rangers and the federal intelligence agency, “arresting five members of the BRG, and foiling a terrorist plan on railway tracks in Karachi”.
The CTD said, in its statement, that the group has carried out “six low-intensity explosions in Jacobabad, Shikarpur districts of Sindh, resulting in partial damage to the railway track and train carriage”.
It said that the group had claimed responsibility for the attacks on its social media accounts.
It added that the CTD, working in collaboration with the “civilian federal intelligence agency [..] identified the network and monitored them day and night”.
The CTD recovered explosives, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), weapons, and ammunition from the suspects.
The department said that during the interrogation, the suspects revealed that they were responsible for a train bombing in Jacobabad on June 6, 2025, an explosion near a railway station in Shikarpur on July 28, 2025, an attack on Jaffar Express in Shikarpur on October 7, 2025, and another explosion near a railway track on January 26 this year.
At least seven people were injured in the Oct 7 attack on the Jaffar Express in Shikarpur.
The CTD said the terrorists received training in Lehri, Balochistan, adding that they were given explosives from Lehri, which were transported with the “help of their families, thereby avoiding law enforcement agencies”.
The statement added that a team has been formed to arrest the facilitators and associates of the terrorists.
“The interrogation of the suspects is ongoing, and further revelations are expected,” the statement concluded.
Addressing a press conference, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Sindh CTD Azfar Mahesar said the development was a “major dent” in the group’s operations.
He claimed that the group was receiving funding from neighbouring India, and stressed that the arrest had “exposed another terror nexus orchestrated by India”.
He also shared that Sindh “did not record any major terrorism incidents in the past year,” maintaining that attacks carried out by the group were “low-intensity”.
Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar lauded the CTD team for the operation and vowed that the terrorists would be given an “exemplary punishment,” as per a statement issued via his spokesperson.
In January, intelligence and law enforcement agencies had thwarted a massive terrorist plot in Karachi, seizing a huge cache of explosives, cylinders, plastic containers, and several types of detonators mounted on a ‘ready-to-explode’ truck, in an operation conducted on the outskirts of the port city.
The operation — jointly conducted by the intelligence agencies and the CTD — averted a potentially major tragedy, with a staggering 2,000kg of explosive material being defused. In total, the seized explosives comprised 30 plastic drums and five cylinders, rigged with different detonators.