Pakistani Rangers and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Monday claimed to have arrested three alleged facilitators during an operation in Karachi’s Korangi area, including Zahid Barkzai, whose detention had earlier been reported by family members as an enforced disappearance.
According to a statement issued by security officials, Rangers and CTD personnel carried out a joint raid in Chakragoth, Korangi, where three suspects, identified as Yasir Arafat, Khuda Bakhsh and Zahid Barkzai, were taken into custody.
Officials alleged that the detainees were involved in influencing college and university students and were planning attacks on sensitive locations. The statement said security forces recovered a laptop, five kilograms of explosive material, detonators, 10 meters of prima cord and one kilogram of ball bearings during the operation. Authorities also claimed to have seized around 250 booklets containing what they described as “extremist material.”
Security officials said the suspects were acting as facilitators and were engaged in recruiting and ideological indoctrination of students.
However, family sources and local observers noted that Zahid Barkzai had already been taken into custody weeks earlier. According to relatives, he was detained during the night of January 27, 2026, when personnel in plain clothes, described as members of Pakistani intelligence agencies and security forces, allegedly raided his home and transferred him to an undisclosed location.
His arrest was publicly acknowledged by Pakistani forces later the same day.
Rights observers say such cases have repeatedly raised concerns about enforced disappearances, delayed acknowledgments of detention, and subsequent presentation of detainees in security operations. Authorities have not responded to these concerns in the latest case.