Pakistani intelligence arrests almost 100 militants

Pakistan’s army spokesman says intelligence agencies have arrested a collective of 97 militants from three banned groups involved in a string of major terrorist attacks.

The arrested militants were also planning to break Hyderabad jail near here, a plan Bajwa described as “nearly executed”, to release top al-Qaeda leader Umer Sheikh, sentenced to death for killing The Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Speaking of the terrorist nexus, he explained with the help of multimedia that there are basically three major terrorist networks working in Karchi namely Al -Qaeda (subcontinent group), Lashkar-e-Jhangwi (LeJ), and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). However, he said, the Rangers’ operation had significantly improved the city’s security situation, adding that target killings and attempts to extort civilians were down 70 percent from 2013, when crime in the city was at its peak.

The military took LeJ’s Naeem Bokhari and Sabir Khan, along with Farooq Bhatti, deputy chief of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), into custody in the recent raids, Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa reportedly said Friday.

“Our conclusion is that all of the terrorist groups are trying to cooperate with each other in order to carry out terrorist attacks”, he told a news conference.

“The whole of world is praising military operation Zarb-e-Azb”, he said.

The DG ISPR said the network operated from Karachi; but planning for terror attacks was made in Miranshah.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an Islamist group whose sectarian ideology is intently aligned with Islamic State, as soon as loved the backing of Pakistan’s highly effective spy company, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence. The militants had been arrested in a series of raids and operations over the course of several months. More than 350 kg (772 lb) of explosives had been recovered from a building believed to be a hideout, he said.

“The terrorists planned to get Khalid Umer Sheikh, Shahzad Ahmed, and 100 other inmates released from the prison in Hyderabad”, he added.

Video pictures of the constructing confirmed blue plastic barrels crammed with explosives, washing machines that had been used to move arms and ammunition, lengthy lengths of detonating twine and dozens of ball bearings.

Two vehicles loaded with explosives were among the haul of weapons and bomb-making equipment seized during a raid on a rented house in Hyderabad, which the army said was at the centre of a plot that was “90% ready for execution”.