KARACHI: Two most wanted activists of a religious group were wounded in a shootout with a squad of Anti-terrorist Wing (ATW) of Sindh police in Orangi Town, police sources claimed on Thursday. One of the two wounded was held while two including one injured fled from the scene, they added.

The police, on an information about activists of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi hiding in Haryana Colony of Sector 10, Orangi Town within Mominabad police jurisdictions, cordoned off the hideout near Misaali Chowk and warned them but they tried to flee under the cover of fire.

"The police recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition including a rocket launcher, four AK-47 Klashnikov Assault Rifles and three TT pistols," claimed an insider. A source said: "The most wanted terrorist of the group, Asif Ramzi, carrying head money in millions, managed to escape during the shootout while the other, who was nabbed, was also a most wanted activist and was close associate of Ramzi and Riaz Basra."

Other sources said the arrested accused was shifted to a hospital and then to an unknown place for a joint interrogation. The law enforcers wanted to get the tips regarding Asif Ramzi and Riaz Basra, who had been declared as 'terrorists' by US officials.

LOOTED: Armed men looted Rs 123,000 from Javed, an owner of a garment factory; cash and other valuables from a school in Korangi Industrial Area; Rs 9,785 from Syed Aziz Hasan a salesman of a local company in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Also, the armed men looted Rs 50,000, jewellery and other valuables from the residence of Muhammad Khalid in Shah Faisal Colony; Rs 350,000 from Abdul Majeed in Artillery Maidan; and cash, gold ornaments and electrical appliances from the residence in Khawaja Ajmer Nagri.

Meanwhile, car-lifters took away four cars, one Land Cruiser, one Suzuki pick-up and nine motorcycles from various parts of the metropolis, while police claimed that they recovered three cars and one motorcycle.

MISHAPS: Muhammad Bilal, 12, was knocked down to death by a speeding minibus of route N-5 in Kharadar police jurisdiction, while he was crossing the road. Tahir Mahmood, 22, and Nisar Hussain Shah, 35, were killed when they came under the wheels of passenger trains at Cantt Station, while they were crossing the tracks.

Abdul Malik and Naseeb Khan were injured when their speeding truck overturned on Super Highway. Abid, 22, who had received burn wounds, when his clothes caught fire in his residence in Zaman Town police area on December 29, while he was cooking, died in Civil Hospital after six days.

PESHAWAR: Five deaths were officially confirmed on Thursday in sectarian clashes over an old shrine which continued for the second day in the federally-administered Orakzai tribal agency. A government press note had earlier reported the loss of four lives, all sunnis, when the Goveen village near Kelaya, headquarters of Orakzai agency, was hit by mortar fire.

Late Thursday night, NWFP Home Secretary Syed Mazhar Ali Shah told The News that the death of another person had been confirmed, raising the total to five. Several persons have sustained injuries in the exchange of heavy fire by the two sides. However, reports from the affected area spoke of a higher number of casualties. One report said seven persons have been killed.

The names of four of the dead are -- Tajmir Khan, his son Adamkhel, Amanullah and Hashmatullah. A six-year old girl, whose name couldn't be ascertained, was also mentioned among the dead. The other two men who were reportedly killed were also unidentified although it was clear that one of them was a Shia.

But the home secretary insisted that only five persons had been killed. He also denied reports that some Frontier Corps miltiamen had been killed or wounded or that reinforcements in the form of manpower and weapons were reaching the combatants from the adjoining Kurram and Khyber tribal agencies or Hangu. He said the routes leading to the affected area had been plugged to intercept outsiders wanting to reinforce the rival factions.

The official press note also referred to an exchange of fire between the militia and about 20 persons carrying heavy weapons through the Ferozkhel tribe's territory to the affected area. It said the militiamen returned the fire and injured two of the gun-runners, one receiving minor injury on the foot and another being hit in the abdomen and was admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Kohat for medical treatment.

The press note said a high-powered 40-member jirga of Shia and Sunni tribal elders from Kurram agency was trying to effect a ceasefire between the sides. It said the jirga had established contact with the Sunni side and would soon be in touch with Shia elders. It added that a heavy contingent of the militia reached the affected area early Thursday morning to assist the political administration of Orakzai agency to disengage the combatants.

Meanwhile, late-night reports said the exchange of fire had subsided after sunset, raising hopes of a ceasefire. Earlier in the afternoon also, the firing was of low-intensity and less threatening compared to the earlier bouts of battle in which mortars, rocket-launchers, missiles, etc were freely used.

Eyewitnesses in Kelaya, reached on phone, told The News that hundreds of missiles were fired by the two sides at each other's villages. Government offices, houses and rival mosques were also targetted. Unofficial sources said the clashes had forced the people to abandon villages and move to safer places. They said the deafening sound of heavy weapons used by the combatants had scared the population and turned Kelaya and its surroundings into a virtual battleground. Beside Kelaya, villages most affected by the violence were Khadda Bazar, Sarobi Garhi, Lal Mela, Drama, Panjzari, Mirobek, Sanghra, Khando, Darra Manikhel and Shirin Darra. Government employees in the area had also left after the agency headquarters offices and jail in Kelaya were hit. An emergency had been declared in hospitals near Orakzai agency to receive the injured.

The dispute erupted when the Shias accused the Sunnis of preventing them to visit the Mian Ziarat, the Mughal-era shrine of a spiritual figure sited in the Sunni village of Mahmudabad, also known as Leerha. Shia elders said they always visited the shrine during Eid to pay their respects as the practice had been in vogue as long as they could remember. The Sunnis, however, maintained that the Shias visiting the shrine beat drums and commit other acts of provocation.

The dispute simmered for a while before erupting into a full-fledged battle with fighters from both sides taking up positions on hilltops and pounding each other's villages with heavy guns and other sophisticated weapons. Both Shias and Sunnis, it may be added, are Pakhtoons and have battled each other on quite a few occasions in recent years in strife-prone areas like Orakzai and Kurram tribal agencies as well as in nearby Hangu and Kohat districts.

Meanwhile, the Tehrik Jafria Pakistan (TJP), NWFP President Maulana Mohammad Iqbal Beheshti in an interview with The News from Kelaya accused the Tehrik-i-Taliban, comprising local Sunnis, of triggering the sectarian clashes in Orakzai agency. He alleged that the ruling Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan were backing the Pakistani Taliban and targetting the Shia population. He also accused the government of not doing enough to stop the fighting and protect the Shias.

However, Sunnis elders rejected these allegations and charged the Shias, especially the TJP, with provoking the violence. They said the local Taliban in Orakzai agency was a reformist movement enjoying popular support and had taken steps to curb crime, drugs and other social evils. They alleged that the Shias fired the first salvo and triggered the latest round of sectarian violence.