Over 50 Terror Suspects Arrested in Pakistan’s Punjab During Two-Month Crackdown

Lahore, Aug 1: Pakistan’s Punjab Police have arrested more than 50 suspected terrorists belonging to several banned outfits during a large-scale counter-terrorism crackdown carried out over the past two months, officials said on Saturday. According to the Punjab Police’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), 419 intelligence-based operations were conducted across multiple districts of the province in response to heightened security threats. The CTD said 54 suspected terrorists linked to banned organisations, including the Islamic State (IS), Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Sipah-e-Sahaba, were taken into custody. The arrests were made in several districts, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Jhelum, Sargodha, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Sahiwal, Mandi Bahauddin, Pakpattan and Bahawalpur. During the operations, security personnel seized explosives, 12 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 42 detonators, 98 feet of safety fuse wire, banned literature, extremist propaganda material and cash. The CTD said investigations are continuing as authorities work to dismantle terrorist networks operating in the province.