PESHAWAR/MOHMAND: The capital city police on Friday claimed to have foiled a terrorism bid by arresting three alleged terrorists and recovering explosives from their possession.

SSP operations Mansoor told reporters at a press conference that the terrorists were arrested from Mattani area on the outskirts of the city.

He said Bilal, Abdul Qadir and Ikhtiar Gul were members of the Islamic State militant outfit commonly known as Daesh.

He said four kilogrammes of dynamite, detonators and prima cords were recovered from them along with two 9mm pistols.

He said the accused were planning to carry out attacks in the city during Muharram. He said they were also involved in IED attacks and extortion.

The accused were later presented before a local court, which sent them on judicial remand.

Meanwhile, the Mohmand police thwarted a major sabotage bid by recovering heavy weapons hidden in a house in border area of Baizai tehsil on Friday.

This was the biggest ever operation of the Mohmand police since the region’s merger with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, RPO Mardan division Sher Akbar Khan and DPO Mohmand Tariq Habib said while speaking at a press conference in Ghalanai.

They said a man was arrested on the spot identified as Habibullah.

Sher Akbar praised the Mohmand police for averting a major sabotage bid.

DPO Tariq Habib said the seizure included 72 RPG shells and 64 detonators.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2020