This Article is From Oct 18, 2009

Pak crackdown: 100 terror suspects arrested

Pak crackdown: 100 terror suspects arrested

AFP image

Islamabad: Nearly 100 terror suspects, including foreigners, were arrested on Sunday in a series of raids carried out by security forces in Islamabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi and other parts of Pakistan, a day after its Army launched a major offensive against Taliban in Waziristan.

Security agencies arrested three members of the Amjad Farooqi faction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and seized a huge cache of weapons, ammunition and fake National Identity Cards during a raid near Azadi Chowk Yadgar in Lahore.

The Amjad Farooqi group has claimed responsibility for several recent terror attacks, including a brazen assault on the Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

Over 70 suspects were arrested in Rawalpindi and nearby areas, TV news channels reported. Reports said many persons were detained on suspicion of having links to the attack on the General Headquarters. Several Afghan nationals were among those arrested.

Security agencies also made several arrests on the basis of information derived from the call records of mobile phones used by the terrorists who attacked the Army's headquarters.

In Islamabad, two men were detained during a raid on the Jamia Mohammadiya seminary in the heart of the city. A large contingent of policemen entered the madrassa and searched the living quarters of students and their possessions.

The two men who were detained were taken away in a police van. Reports said authorities conducted the raid as part of a crackdown on unregistered seminaries.

Police also arrested sever foreigners from a bus going from Quetta to Peshawar.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has denied that authorities were targeting all seminaries. He said action was only being taken against madrassas that had foreign prayer leaders.

Pakistani military killed 60 Taliban militants in the lawless Waziristan region on the second day today of the major anti-terror operation and captured two key towns from them despite stiff resistance.
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