On Saturday, the Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) announced the apprehension of 13 suspected terrorists, including “three key Daesh commanders.” The arrests were made during an intelligence-based operation across various cities of the province.
The CTD announced today that the apprehended individuals from Lahore, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Chinot, Qasoor, Multan, and Mandi Bahauddin had planned to engage in terrorist activities, Dawn.com reported.
The statement also mentioned the discovery of explosives, detonators, improvised explosive devices, and cash in their possession. Cases have been filed against them, and investigations are ongoing. In a separate update, the CTD reported 34 arrests from 339 combing operations this week, along with the questioning of 4,113 individuals.
Last week, Punjab CTD arrested 21 “terrorists,” including militants linked to ban groups Daesh and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as Dawn reported.
The militants, including TTP and BLA, have recently increased their attacks targeting Pakistani officials, foreigners and ordinary people.
As per a CTD spokesperson, 132 IBOs were conducted in Punjab, specifically aimed at countering potential terrorist activities by inactive groups. The focus was on safeguarding Chinese nationals and places of worship during Muharram.
