Punjab CTD, intelligence intercept major sectarian terrorism bid, arrest 7 suspects

SARGODHA: The Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab has claimed Thursday to foil a major terrorism bid in the country as they intercepted a terrorist network arresting at least seven suspects, ARY News reported.

The suspects who belong to a banned outfit Sipah e Muhammad, sponsored by a hostile neighbor country, were planning a series of attacks including fanning the sectarian fire by targeting popular and political persons, said additional Inspector General of Punjab Rai Tahir.

An intelligence based operation carried out by CTD and intelligence agencies detained seven suspects including Aslam Hussain, Bharat Khan, Muhammad Ali, and Muhammad Iqbal who received their instructions from neighboring country, AIG Rai Tahir said.

We recovered heavy explosives and the pictures of impending targets from the detained suspects, Rai Tahir said.

However, the mastermind of these conspiracies is still at large and we have reached out to Interpol for their assistance in the arrests, he said, adding that their funding were channeled, too, by that same neighbor who wishes subversive activities in Pakistan.

Earlier today it was reported that CTD had intervened, via an intelligence information, an ongoing plot wherein at least two suspects were found to be acting on instructions to assassinate their target.

They then arrested Musharraf alias Baba Jee and Ameer alias Shahid after the suspects opened fire on their incursion, CTD claimed.

READ: ‘Indigenously developed’ Fatah-1’s test flight successful: ISPR

Separately in a security development earlier today, Pakistan conducted a successful test flight of “indigenously developed Fatah-1, Guided Multi Launch Rocket System.”

The rocket system is capable of delivering a conventional warhead up to a range of 140 kilometres, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a Twitter statement.