ISLAMABAD, March 29: Investigators believe that about 60 persons rounded up in the midnight raids in Faisalabad and Lahore may lead to the arrest of three wanted associates of Omar Sheikh and those involved in the attack on Protestant International Church in Islamabad.
A senior official of the interior ministry, requesting anonymity, told Dawn: “Whether some of the arrested terrorists are involved in the Daniel Pearl kidnapping case and the church attack or not would be known after the investigations are complete.”
The official said 29 Al Qaeda activists and 30 Pakistani nationals were arrested during the raids.
The 30 Pakistanis belonged to the banned organizations like Jaish-i-Muhammad, Harkatul Mujahideen and some other groups, he added.
To a question about the participation of US commandos in the operation, the official said the FBI provided technical assistance.
“We have a working relationship with the FBI and we do share all kinds of information related to the war on terrorism,” an official said.
The Interior ministry sources said it was premature to say that the arrested Al Qaeda activists were behind the church attack.
Replying to a question about ascertaining the identity of the attacker in the church incident, the sources said the investigators were trying to determine whether the terrorist was a suicide attacker or he was booby-trapped.
The evidence collected from the blast site and the DNA sample of the unidentified terrorist had been sent to the US for analysis and investigations, the sources added.
Replying to questions if the arrested terrorists in Faisalabad belonged to the group of 48 Al Qaeda activists who had escaped while being shifted to Kohat some time ago, an official said investigators were trying to ascertain their exact identities and nationalities.
