JOIN USPak police arrest 13 terrorists
While, six Taliban militants were arrested in two raids in the eastern city of Sargodha, on the outskirts of the federal capital, seven Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorists were picked up on Saturday in Karachi, officials said.
The haul from the terrorists included suicide vests, explosives and huge amount of banned drugs like heroine, indicating that the militants planned to hit politicians, foreign targets and places of worship.
And among those arrested included a major recruiter of suicide bombers with the police saying the arrests had foiled major terrorists strikes in the south and east of the country.
The six suspected Taliban terrorists caught in the eastern city of Sargodha on Monday, were from Tehrik-e-Taliban, the police said adding that they had seized a cache of arms and explosives during the raids.
Revenge attacks
They apparently could have been on a mission to carry out revenge attacks against the strike on their leader Baitullah Mehsud.
The six men arrested during two raids in the city had links to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and elements in the troubled North Waziristan Agency, district police chief Usman Anwar told reporters. Among the arrested terrorists was Zaid Mustafa, who, Anwar said, recruited suicide bombers for training in Afghanistan.
Mustafa is also suspected to be an intermediary between the Taliban in the tribal belt and militants in other parts of Pakistan, he said.
Tehrik-e-Taliban chief
Some officials also described Mustafa as the chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban in Punjab province. It is believed that he had provided logistics and support to militants for attacks in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi, they said.
The arrested terrorists had plans to carry out attacks next week on ‘imambargahs’ or Shia prayer halls, police posts, politicians, “foreign targets”, a public gathering and textile mills in Faisalabad, he said.
With the swoop on these elements, the police claimed to have thwarted an attempt to carry out suicide attacks in the city. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is a group close to Taliban, has also been linked to attacks on former former premier Shaukat Aziz Tarin. The suspects, according to police had been trained in camps in South Waziristan tribal region and had plans to target offices of intelligence agencies and government officials in the city.