ISLAMABAD – An Al-Qaeda operative Umar Jalal Kathio was reported to have been arrested in an intelligence-based operation in the Sindh capital.
Media channels reported on Monday that Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies arrested multiple high profile al-Qaeda operatives.
The UK-based organisation Islamic Theology of Counter-Terrorism (ITCT) reports that Umar Jalal Kathio was among the multiple al-Qaeda operatives arrested from Karachi a few days ago.
Kathio and his wife were reportedly shifted to an undisclosed location, however, it has emerged that the militant was arrested a couple of years back.
“The timing of the announcement of these arrests is interesting since it comes right after President Trump said some unsavory things about Pakistan in an interview, which made waves in Pakistan.”
– my comments here: https://t.co/oLLhwG9GDi
— F. Jeffery ? (@Natsecjeff) November 19, 2018
The reports went viral a day after US President Donald Trump slammed Pakistan for what he said ‘doing nothing for the US’ and alleged that the country sheltered Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for years.
Trump, in an interview, said that people in Pakistan knew the top terrorist leader was living there. “But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everybody in Pakistan knew he was there,” he told Fox News.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/pakistan-has-not-done-a-damn-thing-for-us-trump-unleashes-rant-against-islamabad/
On Monday, in a series of tweets, Pakistan’s prime minister responded that Pakistan had suffered 75,000 casualties and lost $123 billion in the “US War on Terror” that followed 9/11, despite the fact that no Pakistanis were involved in the attacks.
https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1064482777054220289
https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1064483393335898113
https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1064483937270018048
Imran Khan maintains the US has only provided a “miniscule” $20 billion in aid.
Addendum
Islamic Theology of Counter-Terrorism (ITCT) has now clarified that Kathio was arrested in 2016 and had no link with Ayman al Zawahiri as reported earlier.
Following his stint with al-Qaeda as a close associate of bin Laden, Umar Jalal joined the Islamic State group along with his wife, and continued to carry out terrorist operations in Sindh province of Pakistan.
During his time with al-Qaeda and Islamic State, Umar Jalal was responsible for arranging funds and equipment for terrorist attacks.
