QUETTA, PAKISTAN (AFP) – A band of suspected Islamic State (IS) militants is on the run in Pakistan after escaping a police raid that killed six other members of the group, officials said yesterday.
Counterterrorism police said in a statement they had stormed a hideout in the southwestern city of Quetta on Saturday and killed six militants, but “around four to five managed to escape”.
A senior police official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that “teams are now raiding different areas to arrest those who escaped”.
Among the dead was junior commander in the regional chapter of Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) Asghar Sumalani. He had a INR2 million (USD11,400) bounty on his head.
Pakistani officials have long played down the presence of IS-K in their country.
But the group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks, including the slaying of 11 miners from the minority Hazara community last year.
