Karachi violence: Collusion growing between Taliban, local criminals

A counter-terrorism official on Monday sounded the alarm on the growing level of coordination among two dozen or so extremist groups, including the Taliban and local criminal elements in Karachi, which has seen an upsurge in political violence.
They [Taliban groups] are becoming well-coordinated amongst themselves and amongst local criminals. Sometimes we fear their connectivity is as effective as it is in the tribal areas. It is a very grim situation,” said the official, who deals with the anti-extremism wing of the secret police.

The revelation on Monday came amid a renewed wave of violence in Karachi which has so far claimed several dozen lives in less than a week.

However, the official from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) added that there was no evidence of the Taliban’s involvement in the upsurge in targeted killings, saying it was more for political reasons than anything else.

“They are not directly involved … but the problem is that if there were such a situation, they have a better chance to survive and avoid the radar that we want to keep them under,” he added, requesting anonymity.

He claimed that the criminals weren’t the individuals that the militants relied on for their operations, rather, they were used for intelligence purposes and providing them with shelter. A secret report that the CID sent to the interior ministry appeared to be substantiating the claim by the official.