What happened
Officers of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) killed four militants in a shootout in Karachi’s Shah Latif Town, officials said on 17 February 2026, in an operation the department said was based on intelligence from earlier arrests.
DIG CTD Azfar Mahesar and SSP CTD Irfan Bahadur said the exchange of fire was fierce and left all four militants fatally wounded. Three were identified as Jaleel alias Fareed, Niaz alias King and Hamdan alias Fareed, while the identity of the fourth was still being confirmed. Officials said the militants were killed by gunfire from their own associates during the chaos of the firefight, according to Daily Pakistan. Two CTD officers, Head Constable Muhammad Yousuf and Constable Raja Junaid, were injured and were receiving medical attention.
Explosives found
The Bomb Disposal Squad was called in during the operation. A search found large quantities of explosives being prepared in drums inside a house, along with detonators, detonating wires and circuits. Officials were neutralising the explosives before moving them to a secure location. The CTD set up checkpoints across Malir and surrounding districts to catch any fleeing suspects, and the search operation continued.
Context
The operation traced back to early January, when nearly 2,000 kilogrammes of explosive material were recovered and three militants were arrested, the report said. The intelligence gathered from those arrests led to the Shah Latif Town operation. Authorities alleged the arrested militants were linked to a network described as “Fitna All India Bashir Zeb”, the report added, without giving further details or a claim of responsibility.
Why it matters
The shootout underlined the continuing threat posed by militant networks in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and commercial hub, where security agencies have repeatedly reported disrupting alleged plots. The recovery of a large quantity of prepared explosives, alongside detonators and circuits, suggested the suspects were at an advanced stage of assembling a device. The operation also showed how intelligence from earlier seizures was feeding follow-up raids, even as the CTD continued searching for suspects across Malir.
Sources & reporting notes
This report is based on published reporting from Karachi. Sources were reviewed on 17 February 2026.
- Daily Pakistan — "Karachi Saved from Horror as CTD kills Four Terrorists in Shah Latif Shootout"17 February 2026 · Carries the CTD account of the Shah Latif Town shootout, the four militants killed, the injured officers, the explosives found in drums and the link to the January seizures.
- Daily Pakistan — "Army to hand over law and order duties in Malakand to KP police, CTD"10 February 2026 · Background on the CTD's expanding role in counter-militancy operations in Pakistan.
