LAHORE: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed on Saturday to have arrested nine alleged terrorists of banned outfits during operations in different areas of the province.

According to the spokesman, the Punjab CTD conducted 33 intelligence-based operations in different districts to effectively deal with any untoward incident of terrorism, in which 35 suspected persons were interrogated and nine alleged terrorists were arrested with weapons, explosives and other prohibited material.

Those arrested include Naveed Khan, Ghulam Hussain, Ghulam Abbas, Owais Ahmed and Akhwanzada of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Muhammad Saif Afridi, Muhammad Hussain Masdani and Umar Ismail of the ISIS; and Khurram Shahzad of Al-Qaeda.

He said 2,970 grams of explosives, two detonators, 15 feet of protective fuse wire, 97 pamphlets of banned organisations, 45 stickers, 40 flags, 18 receipt boxes and Rs152,800 in cash were also recovered from the possession of the terrorists.

The spokesman said the terrorists wanted to target important installations and other religious places across the province.

The police have registered seven cases against the arrested terrorists in Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan and Bahawalpur and shifted them to an unknown location, the spokesman said.

He said 153 combing operations were also conducted during this week with the help of local police and security agencies; 7,751 people were checked, eight suspects were arrested, nine FIRs were registered and seven recoveries were made.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2023