Punjab CTD arrests Osama bin Laden’s close aide

LAHORE: The Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has arrested Amin-ul-Haq, a close associate of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, ARY News reported.

Addressing a news conference in Lahore, DIG CTD Usman Akram Gondal said that Amin al-Haq, a key Al-Qaeda operative, was taken into custody yesterday.

He stated that the arrested Al-Qaeda operative’s name is included in the list of terrorists wanted by the US and EU.

The CTD has launched an investigation into the matter, terming the arrest as a significant breakthrough, DIG CTD Usman Akram Gondal added.

In September 2019, the then US President Donald Trump confirmed that Hamza bin Laden, the son and designated heir of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, was killed in a “counter-terrorism” operation.

US media reported in late July and early August, citing intelligence officials, that the younger Bin Laden was killed sometime in the last two years in an operation that involved the United States.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper confirmed the death last month, saying it was “his understanding” that Bin Laden was dead.

Also read: Who shot Osama bin Laden?

It is pertinent to mention here that on May 2, 2011 a team of the United States Navy SEALs stormed into a seemingly ordinary compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan and shot dead founder of al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden in operation Neptune Spear that lasted for under 40 minutes.

Osama Bin Laden was the most wanted terrorist in the world owing to his involvement in the September 11, 2001 attack on the Twin Towers in New York.