MULTAN, Aug 4: Police claimed here on Saturday to have arrested five militants belonging to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, City Police Officer Amir Zulfiqar said Multan police got information from intelligence sources that militants of the Noor Khan Group and Tayyab Group had entered the city.

He said the militants planned to target the police, army and intelligence institutions and Ramazan as well as Eid gatherings. He said police with the cooperation of intelligence agencies conducted an operation and arrested Muhammad Younas, Muhammad Tahir, Rana Abdullah, Muhammad Salman and Aqib. He said all these men belonged to the group of Rana Afzal alias Noor Khan who was a resident of Kabirwala, but currently living in Waziristan.

He said the Noor Khan Group was training youngsters as suicide bombers in Waziristan and spreading its activities in south Punjab. He said the arrested men got training at a centre run by the Noor Khan Group in Waziristan some time ago.

Zulfiqar said the arrested men had planned to kill Shia, Barelvi and Ahmadi leaders and kidnap their children for ransom. He said those arrested were planning to reorganise TTP in Multan. He said they had planned to attack a procession of the Shia community in Multan on Ramazan 21 and kill a Shia leader.

“They attempted to kidnap Aftab Karim Gardezi of Zia Chowk and Salaar Wahin of Khanewal district. They tried to loot Najaf Medical Store at Makhdoompur Chungi, Kabirwala and killed its owner. They planned to kidnap the son of a man of Mumtazabad,” he added.

The police official said the arrested men planned to kidnap some other people to generate funds. He said police recovered a Kalashnikov with three magazines of bullets, a 222-bore rifle with three magazines, three pistols, 120 bullets, detonators and explosive material from the arrested men.