The man being described as the mastermind of the Karachi Police Office Attack has been killed in what is being called a shoot-out at Northern Bypass, the Counter Terrorism Department said on Monday.

This information was made public by CTD’s SSP Tariq Nawaz, who said that the CTD conducted a raid after a tip-off about the presence of terrorists near Mai Garhi shrine in Manghopir. He said that the men opened fire with automatic weapons when they saw the police approaching. These claims could not be independently verified.

According to CTD In-charge Raja Umar Khattab, the police retaliated and killed two suspects and arrested two others. The bodies were sent to Civil hospital.

The CTD identified the two men who were arrested as Abdul Aziz Siddiqui and Mehran Habib. They said they have been transferred to an undisclosed location for questioning.

The men the CTD killed were identified as Aryad Ullah and Abdul Waheed. The CTD said that it believed that Aryad Ullah was most likely the mastermind behind the KPO attack.

Aryad Ullah was a commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s Karachi division, CTD’s Raja Umar Khattab said. He said the men belonged to the TTP’s Sajna group.

A suicide vest, five weapons, and two motorcycles were seized by the CTD and disabled by the bomb disposal squad.

Addressing a press conference, Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the car used in the attack was bought from Hub by attackers Kifayatullah and Abdul Aziz.

“The KPO attackers came to Karachi by bus a week before the attack. They were hiding out in Ahsanabad,” he said. The weapons used in the attack were bought from Tank.

Attack planned in Afghanistan

CTD sources said that the attack on the Karachi Police Office was planned in Afghanistan and that one of the terrorists killed during the attack was an Afghan national.

A third suspect who was killed during the attack was identified as Yasir, an Afghan national.

The attackers started surveilling the Karachi Police Office eight months before the attack, CTD officials said.

Last month, a group of terrorists from the banned TTP stormed the multi-story Karachi Police Office building on Shariah Faisal in Karachi, killing two policemen, one Rangers jawan, and a sanitary worker. Over a dozen people were injured.

Three attackers were killed by the police and law enforcement agencies.