Farooq Bhatti Musanna: The profile of a hardcore terrorist

He wanted to become a General Duty (GD) Pilot in Pakistan Air Force. But he chose to be someone else. After failing to pass the test for GD Pilot, he ended up as one of the dreaded terrorists of Pakistan.

During a press conference in Karachi on February 12 this year, Director General ISPR, Lt-Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa disclosed about the arrest of Naeem Bukhari, Musanna and 95 other hardcore militants. Most of these arrests were made during intelligence-based operations (IBOs).

After Naeem Bukhari, Musanna's name was the prominent one on the canvas. The name was new to many law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and that was the prime reason he remained at large for many years.

Early Age

Musanna’s real name was Mohammad Farooq Bhatti, s/o Mohammad Ishaq Bhatti. He was born on May 26, 1980 in the suburbs of Landhi’s Muzaffarabad Colony. His parents originally belonged to Punjab's northern city of Gujranwala. They were six siblings including three brothers and three sisters.

Completing his matriculation in 1996 from Medico High School in Majeed Colony, Landhi, he got enrolled in Pre-Engineering section of Federal Urdu Government Science College in 1997. During that time, he also joined a seminary near Aqsa Mosque at Old Muzaffarabad Colony. He participated in student politics while he was in college and joined PSF.

During 1998-99, Musanna applied in Pakistan Air Force for the post of GD Pilot. He cleared the preliminary test and his ISSB (Inter Services Selection Board) test was called in Karachi. During various tests and exams at ISSB, he failed to come up to the required level to enter PAF. Later, he obtained admission in Swedish Institute of Technology, Quaidabad to do a diploma in Associate Engineering (DAE) in Electrical Engineering. On the basis of his majors in DAE, he was selected for internship at Indus Motors as well.

In 2003, Musanna married his uncle’s daughter, a resident of Gujranwala, but divorced her in 2009. He married again in 2014 and his second wife gave birth to his first child after his apprehension.

In 2007, he went to Lahore and started working as an electrical helper in Pak Engineering Works. He also worked in an Urdu daily newspaper as crime reporter in 2009.

Militant Indoctrination

Musanna was inspired by Mulana Masood Azhar before the1999 hijacking saga of the Indian Airlines aircraft. He used to listen to his sermons over audiotapes and, during a gathering organised by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) at Lasbella roundabout in 2000, he pledged allegiance at the hand of Commander Abdul Jabbar.

He remained associated with JeM until 2003 and received his first militant training at a place situated in Gilgit in northern Pakistan. There he was trained to operate AK-47s and rocket launchers. In 2004, he met JeM commander Ameen Shireen at Landhi and along with him went to South Waziristan agency’s headquarters, Wana. Following his first visit, he made several trips to Wana and sunk into the swamp of terrorism.

In 2006, he obtained another training spanning one month where he was trained in making bombs by using Potassium Chloride and Ammonium Nitrate, firing ballistic missiles and developing fuses and switches for various kinds of bombs. He completed this training under the supervision of outlawed TTP South Waziristan commander, Ustad Faiz.

He came to Lahore in 2007 where he initially stayed at Azam Warsik seminary but later moved to a hostel room located at Ichhra. At the same time, he joined Pak Engineering Works but left for Wana after spending six months in Lahore. He again arrived at Lahore in 2009 and planned an attack on FIA Lahore building with the help of a guy named Salman Butt. Moreover, he hatched a plot of attacking ISI Lahore, two different attacks on Manawa Police Training Centre Lahore, and ISI Multan building.

In December 2009, he came back to Karachi and carried out deadly attacks on CID Civil Lines, PNS Mehran, two remote controlled bomb attacks on Pakistan Navy busses, ISI Sukkar office, IED attack on Rangers in the vicinity of Landhi 89, and remote controlled bomb attack on Rangers at Civic Centre.

In May 2013, he detonated a remote controlled IED in Clifton when Chinese Engineers were passing through the area. Luckily it was misfired and did not explode completely. In the same year, he went to Miranshah and met with Commander Khattab of Baitullah Group. Musanna was escorted to Danday Darpa Khel where he met the chief of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Maulana Asim Umar.

Umar explained to him about the formation of AQIS by uniting five different militant groups, and offered him to join AQIS which he readily accepted. Musanna was briefed about the overall operational head Atif as well. Later his meeting was arranged with operational head of AQIS where banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi top gun Naeem Bukhari was also present. Atif assigned him a task to hit Sindh Police Counter Terrorism Department SP Choudry Aslam and a jailbreak in Karachi.

Musanna went back to Karachi in early 2014 and targeted SP Choudry Aslam, SP Farooq Awan, Razaqabad Police Training Centre bus and Karachi Airport old terminal. He also devised a plan to break into Karachi Central Jail but the whole plot was unearthed and three of his associates were arrested.

Musanna also targeted several policemen, Habib University, and the American Consulate in Karachi.

Meeting with Naeem Bukhari

During investigation, Musanna revealed that for operational purposes he first met Naeem Bukhari in 2013 and the meeting was held at Miranshah Bazar. Musanna had a plan to launch an assault on ISI Sukkur office but he was not very familiar with interior Sindh and sought Bukhari’s help.

Hyderabad Jail Break

Musanna planned another jailbreak at Hyderabad to get Shehzad Ahmed Bajwa, the brother of his wife, released.

Bajwa was Naib Ameer of Jundullah Pakistan who carried out a failed murder attempt on Corps Commander Karachi back in 2004. Since then Shehzad Ahmed Bajwa, along with others, was incarcerated and Musanna promised his wife for her brother’s release.

On the agency radar

A high-level intelligence source disclosed that the security apparatus was not familiar with the name of Farooq Bhatti aka Musanna as he always opted for a new alias for every terror attack he was involved in.

Prior to or following any terror attack, he never shared any details of his assignment. For any terrorist activity, he always reached along with his special team of trained militants and left covertly after achieving his target.

“The secrecy was the biggest tool of Musanna,” said a high level intelligence source on condition of anonymity.

Musanna never claimed responsibility for any terrorist act but when SP Choudry Aslam was assassinated in January 2014, TTP Mohmand Agency Commander Khalid Khurasani took the responsibility of the deadly attack.

The LEAs started investigating the case and arrested a few TTP men. During the course of interrogation, a terrorist disclosed that militant circles were very aggravated with TTP’s claim and a jirga was held in North Wazristan to settle the dispute.

During that jirga, it was revealed that there is a militant named 'Musanna' who did this job. That is how the name of hardcore terrorist Musanna first appeared on the radar of Pakistan's security agencies.

– Author is Geo News Special Correspondent and he tweets as @arfeensyyed