ISLAMABAD, April 3: Information Minister Sheikh Rashid has said that security agencies Thursday arrested two suspected Al Qaeda operatives in Peshawar.

“They have been identified as Abdullah and Abdul Karim,” Mr Rashid told AFP, and described them as “Al Qaeda facilitators”.

The pair was arrested during a raid on a house in Peshawar.

The information minister said that they resisted arrest and fired at the raiding party, but no one was injured.

A senior official said the suspects were believed to be linked to the murder of an ISI official.

The security official described one of the suspects, believed to be of Arab origin, as an “important operative”. The origin of the other suspect was unclear.