Al Qaeda central: All roads lead to Karachi
By Saba Imtiaz
Published: May 1, 2011
Al Qaeda chose Karachi as the workshop for its media and financial operations, strategic planning and hideout. PHOTO: FILE/AFP
KARACHI:
On September 11, 2001, four al Qaeda operatives in Karachi watched news footage of planes crashing into the World Trade Centre towers in New York. One of them was the man who had planned every detail of the attack.
They celebrated their success and prayed. The men they had financed and trained had pulled off an unprecedented coup.
But despite this major attack, they considered their work far from over. In the months to come, they would plot more attacks, train and finance young operatives, and help their peers in Afghanistan escape the US and coalition forces that were bombarding their hideouts.
Two years later, they would be in Guantanamo Bay, being interrogated by officials of the same country they had wreaked havoc on.
Guantanamo yielded assessments of over 700 detainees held there. These files were released this month by WikiLeaks and are astonishing in their breadth. The picture they paint sweeps over the mosques of Yemen, training camps in Muzaffarabad and Khost, airports in the Gulf and eventually coalesce to the city that became a nerve centre for al Qaeda: Karachi. This seething and heaving metropolis had always been a reliable base, given that it was a pit stop for those traveling to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and other militant organisations.
Al Qaeda chose Karachi as the workshop for its media and financial operations, strategic planning and it served as a reliable hideout for everyone from the 9/11 plotter Khalid Shaikh Mohammad to Osama bin Ladens son. The files reveal the confessions by al Qaeda operatives elicited using harsh interrogation techniques and how hundreds of impressionable young men were swept away by the call to jihad.
It was in Karachi that al Qaeda celebrated its success, and it is where it eventually met its downfall. An operatives driver gave away the locations to their safe houses after being arrested. Raids on houses revealed a trove of documentation about the hundreds of men who had enlisted with al Qaeda. Arrested operatives began talking about the plans they had started working on: targeting consulates, hotels and ports. But while those plots did not come to fruition, the wheels set in motion by al Qaeda are still running in Karachi.
Timeline of operatives arriving in Karachi
According to the assessments released by WikiLeaks, detainees at Guantanamo Bay mostly travelled to Karachi in 2000 and 2001. After 9/11, people, including from within Pakistan, were persuaded to join the fighting in Afghanistan after fiery speeches and sermons were delivered at political rallies and mosques. Others were persuaded, especially in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, to travel to Afghanistan via Karachi for charity work. For many, this was not their first time to the region they had either participated in the fighting against the Soviet Union during the 1980s or had travelled to Afghanistan for charity work. The most common route was to Kandahar via Karachi and Quetta, which the US authorities used as an indicator to assess detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Did you know
ISI officers visited Guantanamo Bay from Aug 3 to 10, 2002 to interrogate Pakistani detainees
Al Qaeda military commander Sayf al Adl told Khalid Shaikh Mohammad to not murder Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, but to either hand him over to the groups who kidnapped him or release him
Osama bin Ladens son Saad bin Laden lived in Karachi with his wife from Jan to June 2002
A Karachi-based al Qaeda member was tasked with procuring supplies and construction material from and sending them to Afghanistan to prepare the cave complex in Tora Bora for occupation by Osama bin Laden and his family
A letter sent by Khalid Shaikh Mohammad to Hamza al Zubayr, instructing him to execute a terrorism plot, was dubbed the Perfume Letter
Several detainees told US officials that they had visited or stayed at Karachis Makki Masjid. However, officials believed this was a cover story to hide their actual travels
Profiles of detainees captured in Karachi
Ammar al Balochi
Nationality: Pakistani
Age: 34
Capture: April 2003
Internment at Guantanamo Bay: 4 years
Abd al Aziz Ali aka Ammar al Balochi is Khalid Shaikh Mohammads nephew and was married to Aafia Siddiqui. US Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced that al Balochi, along with Mohammad, will face trial by a military commission.
His mother has filed a case in the Sindh High Court over his enforced disappearance. Ammar al Balochi was captured in a raid in April 2003 and was handed over to the US. He studied at the Universal Computer Institute and Petroman Electronics Institute in Karachi from 1996 to 1998.
Ammar al Balochi was responsible for the Karachi Plot, which would target US consulates and troops in the city. He dealt with media operations and financial transactions, including picking up money from couriers and transferring it abroad or within Pakistan. He helped facilitate the travel and funding of the 9/11 hijackers and was part of the planning team for key operations.
Walid Mohammad Salih bin Attash
Nationality: Yemeni
Age: 33
Capture: April 2003
Internment at Guantanamo Bay: 4 years
Walid Mohammad Salih bin Attash was captured in Karachi with Ammar al Balochi. He fought jihad in Tajikistan and against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. He was part of the operational planning team for important plots and was also involved in planning the 2000 attack on the USS Cole.
Ramzi bin al Shibh
Nationality: Yemeni
Age: 38
Capture: September 2002
Internment at Guantanamo Bay: 4 years
Ramzi bin al Shibh was originally enlisted as a member of the 9/11 hijackers team, but since he had difficulties obtaining a US visa, he was made a coordinator for the attacks. Ramzi bin al Shibh is one of the 16 high-value detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay. Hijacker Mohammad Atta called him in August 2001 to tell him the date of the 9/11 attack through a riddle. Al Shibh informed Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, who told Osama bin Laden of the impending attack. He moved to Iran after 9/11 but had to leave because Iran was set to start arresting mujahideen based there. He was working on a plot to attack Heathrow airport before he was arrested in the Sept 2002 raids on al Qaeda safe houses in Karachi.
Majid Khan
Nationality: Pakistani
Age: 31
Capture: March 2003
Internment at Guantanamo Bay: 4 years
Majid Khan is one of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. He worked directly with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, and was directly involved in the assassination plot against then head of state Pervez Musharraf. Khan acted as a courier to deliver funding to al Qaeda operatives in Thailand. Mohammad planned to use Majid Khan to carry out terrorist plots in the US, targeting gas stations. Khan was given what he believed was an explosives-laden waistcoat and was told to detonate it in a mosque which Musharraf was due to visit. This was a test to vet Khan as a possible operative.
Karachis role
The assessments thus reveal Karachis integral role to al Qaeda operations. Mohammad had made the city his base and most key al Qaeda operatives lived in the numerous safe houses set up in the city. The assessments state that according to Israeli intelligence, Osama bin Laden gave Mohammad permission in 1999 to begin preparation for terrorist attacks. 9/11 was one such product.
Media cell The alleged plotter of the 9/11 attacks Khalid Shaikh Mohammad ran al Qaedas media cell in Karachi. Videos were delivered to Karachi. Ammar al Balochi used Karachi-based operatives to pass messages onto a group which ran a UK-based website sympathetic to al Qaeda. In early 2002, he used Saifullah Parachas company Universal Broadcasting to produce a video highlighting Bakr al Azdis experiences in Tora Bora. News was also forwarded on to al Qaeda safe houses in Afghanistan.
Financing Financing for al Qaeda operations flowed through Karachi, whether it was the delivery of money or transferring it abroad. Ammar al Balochi set up safe houses in Karachi and also arranged for financial transactions, such as sending thousands of dollars abroad or receiving money from messengers who hand-delivered hundreds of thousands in rupees in cash. Money was also invested in a real estate project owned by Saifullah Paracha.
Accounting Al Qaeda had accounting offices in Peshawar and Karachi. Financial transactions were made through Karachi, including handing over money to couriers who would then travel abroad with the money or deliver it within the country.
Bomb making Al Qaeda ran two workshops in the city which produced remote controlled firing devices (RCFDS) and timers for use in improvised explosive devices. The workshop began production in early 2002, and al Qaedas detained bomb maker told Guantanamo authorities that he Al-Qasim estimates the workshops had produced between 400 to 500 RCFDS, 600 to 700 Casio timers and 600 to 700 integrated circuit timers. Detonators were delivered to a man at a Quetta bus stop (the files are unclear if the bus stop is for Quetta-bound buses or not) and to Sabzi Mandi.
Money laundering To provide a cover for al Qaeda operations, dummy import-export businesses were to be set up with Saifullah Parachas assistance. An analyst noted that al Qaedas investment in real estate could be an attempt at money laundering.
Training The 9/11 operatives had worked with Mohammad in Karachi on the plot. Mohammad had also trained a team in English classes and American culture. Operatives were taught how to use the internet since e-mail was a safer mode of communication than phone calls. There were also plans to use a flying school in Karachi for future training. Walid Salih bin Attash and Ammar al Balochi, who were working on the Karachi Plot, had asked for 50 men to be ready to carry out operations.
Karachi also served as a useful example for attacks. Planning for an attack on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz was done by studying Karachis port. Osama bin Laden, who financed the plot, instructed Abd el Rahim Hussein Mohammad al Nashiri to buy a fishing boat, learn Karachis boat registration process and study the ports entry and exit procedures by using fishing expeditions as a cover.
Biological weapons plot Al Qaeda had also started planning for a biological weapons attack, including the use of anthrax. Crates of anthrax had earlier been moved from Karachi to Kandahar, signalling that al Qaeda was able to procure and store the material in the city. However, since al Qaedas leadership had to leave Afghanistan, they planned to shift operations to Karachi. MIT graduate Aafia Siddiqui, who was consulted on the project, reportedly said that she would participate in the plot if al Qaeda tasked her to.
Safe passage Al Qaeda arranged for its members to leave Afghanistan and travel to Karachi. Several were advised to leave to Iran but had to come back to Karachi when Iran began cracking down on operatives. Al Qaeda arranged for the housing and transport of families within the country as well.
Plots
Al Qaeda planned to assassinate then-head of state Pervez Musharraf.
Balochi and Attash planned to attack two hotels in Karachi that housed US troops on a regular basis, as well as the consulate. They were arrested the same day that they were due to receive explosives for the attack.
Housing
Gulshan-e-Iqbal: Al Qaeda managed several guesthouses and safe houses in Karachi. The first house, which was operational for the longest period, was in Gulshan-e-Iqbal
Gulistan-e-Jauhar: A safe house was located in the Rabia City complex
Tariq Road: The house was used as a planning cell
Defence: Safe houses were located in Defence Phase II and Defence View
Shahrae Faisal: A safe house is located near the Karachi airport. It was used to print news from online sources, which was forwarded to al Qaeda safehouses in Afghanistan
Saifullah Paracha, who had provided al Qaeda financial and material support, reportedly assisted Khalid Shaikh Mohammad in selecting houses in Karachi to be used as al Qaeda safe houses. According to his assessment document, Paracha owned part of a 330-unit apartment complex called Cliftonia in Karachi. Ammar al Balochi invested EUR 240,000 in Parachas Cliftonia Apartment Complex. Paracha noted that al Qaeda was only interested in the ground floor units of the complex, as these were the only units that could be entered while avoiding the complexs security personnel.
The Al Qaeda life
Osama bin Ladens son Saad bin Laden lived in Karachi with his wife and son from January to June 2002. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad provided Saad a haven. He would occasionally come with Mohammad to one of the safe houses located at D-255, Block 13-D/1, Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The house was also used by other al Qaeda operatives, including Walid Mohammad Salih bin Attash.
Many of the 9/11 hijackers stayed in the Rabia City complex. Muhammad Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Hani Hanjour stayed at the Defence View safe house.
The guesthouses also housed senior al Qaeda members, including Osama bin Ladens security chief Hamza al Ghamdi, al Qaeda military operations supreme commander Muhammad Salah al-Din Abd al-Halim Zaydan aka Sayf al-Adil, USS COLE bombing mastermind Abd al-Rahim Hussayn Muhammad al-Nashiri and senior al-Qaeda operatives Walid Muhammad Salih Bin Attash, Ammar al Balochi and Khalid Shaikh Mohammad.
Hotels
Hotels identified by the US included the Dubai, Embassy, Emirates, Faran, Gulf, Mashriq and Mehran which were commonly used by al Qaeda members.
Mosques
Other indicators for assessing Guantanamo detainees included association or affiliation with the Makki Mosque (run by the Tablighi Jamaat) and the Abu Bakr International University. One detainee said he went to fight in Afghanistan after hearing Mufti Atique speak at the Siddiq-e-Akbar Mosque.
Offices
One detainee said he had visited the Taliban office in the old Expo Centre near the Mohammad Ali shrine
Hospital
Abdul Rahim Ghulam Rabbani stated that he was instructed to go to a hospital on Tariq Road to care for wounded al Qaeda memb
Raids timeline
Feb 7, 2002: The ISI, working with US officials, raid a safe house run by Abdu Ali Sharqawi. Sixteen people, including Sharqawi, are captured.
Impact: Two life vests containing traces of explosives are discovered.
March 2002: According to harpers.org, Pakistani authorities raid a residence believed to have been used as a safe house by Abu Zubaydah and take its residents into custody, including Salah Ahmed al Salami, who died in Guantanamo Bay.
June 2002: Sketches of US embassies in Kazakhstan are seized during a raid on a safe house in Karachi occupied by Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan-linked Uighurs. The sketches were reportedly to be used by senior al Qaeda member Mustafa.
Sept 9, 2002: Pakistani authorities raid several suspected al Qaeda residences in Karachi.
Sept 10, 2002: Ahmad Ghulam Rabbani and his driver Mohammad Madni are captured during an ISI raid on Rabbanis house. Madni provides information on the location of other safe houses in Karachi. Three electronic detonators are found.
Sept 11, 2002: Three houses are raided. Ramzi bin al Shibh, Ahmed Rahim Ghulam Rabbani and Hassan Mohammad bin Ali Attash are arrested from a Tariq Road safe house.
Impact: Twenty individually wrapped passports, most of which are valid passports belonging to the wives and children of Osama bin Laden, are found stored next to remotely activated electronic detonators. The devices were built inside black Sega videogame cartridges and are designed for remote activation through the use of a cell phone.
Sept 11, 2002: Raids are conducted on two apartments in Karachis Defence Phase II commercial area, where eight heavily armed Arabs are living, including al Qaeda plotter Hamza Zubayr. A fire fight follows in which the residents throw four hand grenades and fire hundreds of rounds at the Pakistani forces. The residents hold knives to their throats and threaten to kill themselves rather than be taken into custody. Two men, including Zubayr, are killed. Captured are six men, who are given the pseudonym of the Karachi Six. Several Pakistani officials are injured. The standoff lasts about four hours before Pakistani officers are able to overpower them and take them into custody. Zubayr was reportedly running a cell at the house in preparation for terrorist attacks. Two handguns and three grenades are seized. A Kalashnikov rifle and a submachine gun used by the men are seized by police.
Planning: Plans for further al Qaeda operations stopped until Oct 2002
Data: Two lists containing hundreds of names, aliases and nationalities of al Qaeda operatives are found, which US authorities use to check the names of detainees against.
Trust accounts are also found, defined as simple storage compartments such as envelopes or folders that were used to secure the individuals personal valuables until completion of training or another activity. This document would have been transported from Afghanistan to Karachi for safe keeping following the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom.
April 27 / April 30, 2003: The Intelligence Bureau and Rangers capture Ammar al Baluchi, Walid bin Attash and four suspected al Qaeda members.
Impact: 150kg of high explosives and detonators are seized during the raid.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 1st, 2011.
By Saba Imtiaz
Published: May 1, 2011
Al Qaeda chose Karachi as the workshop for its media and financial operations, strategic planning and hideout. PHOTO: FILE/AFP
KARACHI:
On September 11, 2001, four al Qaeda operatives in Karachi watched news footage of planes crashing into the World Trade Centre towers in New York. One of them was the man who had planned every detail of the attack.
They celebrated their success and prayed. The men they had financed and trained had pulled off an unprecedented coup.
But despite this major attack, they considered their work far from over. In the months to come, they would plot more attacks, train and finance young operatives, and help their peers in Afghanistan escape the US and coalition forces that were bombarding their hideouts.
Two years later, they would be in Guantanamo Bay, being interrogated by officials of the same country they had wreaked havoc on.
Guantanamo yielded assessments of over 700 detainees held there. These files were released this month by WikiLeaks and are astonishing in their breadth. The picture they paint sweeps over the mosques of Yemen, training camps in Muzaffarabad and Khost, airports in the Gulf and eventually coalesce to the city that became a nerve centre for al Qaeda: Karachi. This seething and heaving metropolis had always been a reliable base, given that it was a pit stop for those traveling to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and other militant organisations.
Al Qaeda chose Karachi as the workshop for its media and financial operations, strategic planning and it served as a reliable hideout for everyone from the 9/11 plotter Khalid Shaikh Mohammad to Osama bin Ladens son. The files reveal the confessions by al Qaeda operatives elicited using harsh interrogation techniques and how hundreds of impressionable young men were swept away by the call to jihad.
It was in Karachi that al Qaeda celebrated its success, and it is where it eventually met its downfall. An operatives driver gave away the locations to their safe houses after being arrested. Raids on houses revealed a trove of documentation about the hundreds of men who had enlisted with al Qaeda. Arrested operatives began talking about the plans they had started working on: targeting consulates, hotels and ports. But while those plots did not come to fruition, the wheels set in motion by al Qaeda are still running in Karachi.
Timeline of operatives arriving in Karachi
According to the assessments released by WikiLeaks, detainees at Guantanamo Bay mostly travelled to Karachi in 2000 and 2001. After 9/11, people, including from within Pakistan, were persuaded to join the fighting in Afghanistan after fiery speeches and sermons were delivered at political rallies and mosques. Others were persuaded, especially in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, to travel to Afghanistan via Karachi for charity work. For many, this was not their first time to the region they had either participated in the fighting against the Soviet Union during the 1980s or had travelled to Afghanistan for charity work. The most common route was to Kandahar via Karachi and Quetta, which the US authorities used as an indicator to assess detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Did you know
ISI officers visited Guantanamo Bay from Aug 3 to 10, 2002 to interrogate Pakistani detainees
Al Qaeda military commander Sayf al Adl told Khalid Shaikh Mohammad to not murder Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, but to either hand him over to the groups who kidnapped him or release him
Osama bin Ladens son Saad bin Laden lived in Karachi with his wife from Jan to June 2002
A Karachi-based al Qaeda member was tasked with procuring supplies and construction material from and sending them to Afghanistan to prepare the cave complex in Tora Bora for occupation by Osama bin Laden and his family
A letter sent by Khalid Shaikh Mohammad to Hamza al Zubayr, instructing him to execute a terrorism plot, was dubbed the Perfume Letter
Several detainees told US officials that they had visited or stayed at Karachis Makki Masjid. However, officials believed this was a cover story to hide their actual travels
Profiles of detainees captured in Karachi
Ammar al Balochi
Nationality: Pakistani
Age: 34
Capture: April 2003
Internment at Guantanamo Bay: 4 years
Abd al Aziz Ali aka Ammar al Balochi is Khalid Shaikh Mohammads nephew and was married to Aafia Siddiqui. US Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced that al Balochi, along with Mohammad, will face trial by a military commission.
His mother has filed a case in the Sindh High Court over his enforced disappearance. Ammar al Balochi was captured in a raid in April 2003 and was handed over to the US. He studied at the Universal Computer Institute and Petroman Electronics Institute in Karachi from 1996 to 1998.
Ammar al Balochi was responsible for the Karachi Plot, which would target US consulates and troops in the city. He dealt with media operations and financial transactions, including picking up money from couriers and transferring it abroad or within Pakistan. He helped facilitate the travel and funding of the 9/11 hijackers and was part of the planning team for key operations.
Walid Mohammad Salih bin Attash
Nationality: Yemeni
Age: 33
Capture: April 2003
Internment at Guantanamo Bay: 4 years
Walid Mohammad Salih bin Attash was captured in Karachi with Ammar al Balochi. He fought jihad in Tajikistan and against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. He was part of the operational planning team for important plots and was also involved in planning the 2000 attack on the USS Cole.
Ramzi bin al Shibh
Nationality: Yemeni
Age: 38
Capture: September 2002
Internment at Guantanamo Bay: 4 years
Ramzi bin al Shibh was originally enlisted as a member of the 9/11 hijackers team, but since he had difficulties obtaining a US visa, he was made a coordinator for the attacks. Ramzi bin al Shibh is one of the 16 high-value detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay. Hijacker Mohammad Atta called him in August 2001 to tell him the date of the 9/11 attack through a riddle. Al Shibh informed Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, who told Osama bin Laden of the impending attack. He moved to Iran after 9/11 but had to leave because Iran was set to start arresting mujahideen based there. He was working on a plot to attack Heathrow airport before he was arrested in the Sept 2002 raids on al Qaeda safe houses in Karachi.
Majid Khan
Nationality: Pakistani
Age: 31
Capture: March 2003
Internment at Guantanamo Bay: 4 years
Majid Khan is one of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. He worked directly with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, and was directly involved in the assassination plot against then head of state Pervez Musharraf. Khan acted as a courier to deliver funding to al Qaeda operatives in Thailand. Mohammad planned to use Majid Khan to carry out terrorist plots in the US, targeting gas stations. Khan was given what he believed was an explosives-laden waistcoat and was told to detonate it in a mosque which Musharraf was due to visit. This was a test to vet Khan as a possible operative.
Karachis role
The assessments thus reveal Karachis integral role to al Qaeda operations. Mohammad had made the city his base and most key al Qaeda operatives lived in the numerous safe houses set up in the city. The assessments state that according to Israeli intelligence, Osama bin Laden gave Mohammad permission in 1999 to begin preparation for terrorist attacks. 9/11 was one such product.
Media cell The alleged plotter of the 9/11 attacks Khalid Shaikh Mohammad ran al Qaedas media cell in Karachi. Videos were delivered to Karachi. Ammar al Balochi used Karachi-based operatives to pass messages onto a group which ran a UK-based website sympathetic to al Qaeda. In early 2002, he used Saifullah Parachas company Universal Broadcasting to produce a video highlighting Bakr al Azdis experiences in Tora Bora. News was also forwarded on to al Qaeda safe houses in Afghanistan.
Financing Financing for al Qaeda operations flowed through Karachi, whether it was the delivery of money or transferring it abroad. Ammar al Balochi set up safe houses in Karachi and also arranged for financial transactions, such as sending thousands of dollars abroad or receiving money from messengers who hand-delivered hundreds of thousands in rupees in cash. Money was also invested in a real estate project owned by Saifullah Paracha.
Accounting Al Qaeda had accounting offices in Peshawar and Karachi. Financial transactions were made through Karachi, including handing over money to couriers who would then travel abroad with the money or deliver it within the country.
Bomb making Al Qaeda ran two workshops in the city which produced remote controlled firing devices (RCFDS) and timers for use in improvised explosive devices. The workshop began production in early 2002, and al Qaedas detained bomb maker told Guantanamo authorities that he Al-Qasim estimates the workshops had produced between 400 to 500 RCFDS, 600 to 700 Casio timers and 600 to 700 integrated circuit timers. Detonators were delivered to a man at a Quetta bus stop (the files are unclear if the bus stop is for Quetta-bound buses or not) and to Sabzi Mandi.
Money laundering To provide a cover for al Qaeda operations, dummy import-export businesses were to be set up with Saifullah Parachas assistance. An analyst noted that al Qaedas investment in real estate could be an attempt at money laundering.
Training The 9/11 operatives had worked with Mohammad in Karachi on the plot. Mohammad had also trained a team in English classes and American culture. Operatives were taught how to use the internet since e-mail was a safer mode of communication than phone calls. There were also plans to use a flying school in Karachi for future training. Walid Salih bin Attash and Ammar al Balochi, who were working on the Karachi Plot, had asked for 50 men to be ready to carry out operations.
Karachi also served as a useful example for attacks. Planning for an attack on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz was done by studying Karachis port. Osama bin Laden, who financed the plot, instructed Abd el Rahim Hussein Mohammad al Nashiri to buy a fishing boat, learn Karachis boat registration process and study the ports entry and exit procedures by using fishing expeditions as a cover.
Biological weapons plot Al Qaeda had also started planning for a biological weapons attack, including the use of anthrax. Crates of anthrax had earlier been moved from Karachi to Kandahar, signalling that al Qaeda was able to procure and store the material in the city. However, since al Qaedas leadership had to leave Afghanistan, they planned to shift operations to Karachi. MIT graduate Aafia Siddiqui, who was consulted on the project, reportedly said that she would participate in the plot if al Qaeda tasked her to.
Safe passage Al Qaeda arranged for its members to leave Afghanistan and travel to Karachi. Several were advised to leave to Iran but had to come back to Karachi when Iran began cracking down on operatives. Al Qaeda arranged for the housing and transport of families within the country as well.
Plots
Al Qaeda planned to assassinate then-head of state Pervez Musharraf.
Balochi and Attash planned to attack two hotels in Karachi that housed US troops on a regular basis, as well as the consulate. They were arrested the same day that they were due to receive explosives for the attack.
Housing
Gulshan-e-Iqbal: Al Qaeda managed several guesthouses and safe houses in Karachi. The first house, which was operational for the longest period, was in Gulshan-e-Iqbal
Gulistan-e-Jauhar: A safe house was located in the Rabia City complex
Tariq Road: The house was used as a planning cell
Defence: Safe houses were located in Defence Phase II and Defence View
Shahrae Faisal: A safe house is located near the Karachi airport. It was used to print news from online sources, which was forwarded to al Qaeda safehouses in Afghanistan
Saifullah Paracha, who had provided al Qaeda financial and material support, reportedly assisted Khalid Shaikh Mohammad in selecting houses in Karachi to be used as al Qaeda safe houses. According to his assessment document, Paracha owned part of a 330-unit apartment complex called Cliftonia in Karachi. Ammar al Balochi invested EUR 240,000 in Parachas Cliftonia Apartment Complex. Paracha noted that al Qaeda was only interested in the ground floor units of the complex, as these were the only units that could be entered while avoiding the complexs security personnel.
The Al Qaeda life
Osama bin Ladens son Saad bin Laden lived in Karachi with his wife and son from January to June 2002. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad provided Saad a haven. He would occasionally come with Mohammad to one of the safe houses located at D-255, Block 13-D/1, Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The house was also used by other al Qaeda operatives, including Walid Mohammad Salih bin Attash.
Many of the 9/11 hijackers stayed in the Rabia City complex. Muhammad Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Hani Hanjour stayed at the Defence View safe house.
The guesthouses also housed senior al Qaeda members, including Osama bin Ladens security chief Hamza al Ghamdi, al Qaeda military operations supreme commander Muhammad Salah al-Din Abd al-Halim Zaydan aka Sayf al-Adil, USS COLE bombing mastermind Abd al-Rahim Hussayn Muhammad al-Nashiri and senior al-Qaeda operatives Walid Muhammad Salih Bin Attash, Ammar al Balochi and Khalid Shaikh Mohammad.
Hotels
Hotels identified by the US included the Dubai, Embassy, Emirates, Faran, Gulf, Mashriq and Mehran which were commonly used by al Qaeda members.
Mosques
Other indicators for assessing Guantanamo detainees included association or affiliation with the Makki Mosque (run by the Tablighi Jamaat) and the Abu Bakr International University. One detainee said he went to fight in Afghanistan after hearing Mufti Atique speak at the Siddiq-e-Akbar Mosque.
Offices
One detainee said he had visited the Taliban office in the old Expo Centre near the Mohammad Ali shrine
Hospital
Abdul Rahim Ghulam Rabbani stated that he was instructed to go to a hospital on Tariq Road to care for wounded al Qaeda memb
Raids timeline
Feb 7, 2002: The ISI, working with US officials, raid a safe house run by Abdu Ali Sharqawi. Sixteen people, including Sharqawi, are captured.
Impact: Two life vests containing traces of explosives are discovered.
March 2002: According to harpers.org, Pakistani authorities raid a residence believed to have been used as a safe house by Abu Zubaydah and take its residents into custody, including Salah Ahmed al Salami, who died in Guantanamo Bay.
June 2002: Sketches of US embassies in Kazakhstan are seized during a raid on a safe house in Karachi occupied by Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan-linked Uighurs. The sketches were reportedly to be used by senior al Qaeda member Mustafa.
Sept 9, 2002: Pakistani authorities raid several suspected al Qaeda residences in Karachi.
Sept 10, 2002: Ahmad Ghulam Rabbani and his driver Mohammad Madni are captured during an ISI raid on Rabbanis house. Madni provides information on the location of other safe houses in Karachi. Three electronic detonators are found.
Sept 11, 2002: Three houses are raided. Ramzi bin al Shibh, Ahmed Rahim Ghulam Rabbani and Hassan Mohammad bin Ali Attash are arrested from a Tariq Road safe house.
Impact: Twenty individually wrapped passports, most of which are valid passports belonging to the wives and children of Osama bin Laden, are found stored next to remotely activated electronic detonators. The devices were built inside black Sega videogame cartridges and are designed for remote activation through the use of a cell phone.
Sept 11, 2002: Raids are conducted on two apartments in Karachis Defence Phase II commercial area, where eight heavily armed Arabs are living, including al Qaeda plotter Hamza Zubayr. A fire fight follows in which the residents throw four hand grenades and fire hundreds of rounds at the Pakistani forces. The residents hold knives to their throats and threaten to kill themselves rather than be taken into custody. Two men, including Zubayr, are killed. Captured are six men, who are given the pseudonym of the Karachi Six. Several Pakistani officials are injured. The standoff lasts about four hours before Pakistani officers are able to overpower them and take them into custody. Zubayr was reportedly running a cell at the house in preparation for terrorist attacks. Two handguns and three grenades are seized. A Kalashnikov rifle and a submachine gun used by the men are seized by police.
Planning: Plans for further al Qaeda operations stopped until Oct 2002
Data: Two lists containing hundreds of names, aliases and nationalities of al Qaeda operatives are found, which US authorities use to check the names of detainees against.
Trust accounts are also found, defined as simple storage compartments such as envelopes or folders that were used to secure the individuals personal valuables until completion of training or another activity. This document would have been transported from Afghanistan to Karachi for safe keeping following the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom.
April 27 / April 30, 2003: The Intelligence Bureau and Rangers capture Ammar al Baluchi, Walid bin Attash and four suspected al Qaeda members.
Impact: 150kg of high explosives and detonators are seized during the raid.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 1st, 2011.
