Asif Hassan—AFP
Police claim the six men taken into custody are affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban and were planning suicide attacks.
Punjab Police on Thursday said they had arrested six suspected terrorists from various parts of the province, adding that they were believed to be members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“Intelligence agencies informed that the TTP had sent suicide bombers to target different part of Punjab,” said Asim Haleem, a senior police official in Attock. “Acting on this intelligence, we raided two houses in Attock and Hazro, and found six suspected terrorists hiding in their basements,” he added.
According to Haleem, police also recovered two suicide vests and 10 hand grenades, along with several machine guns and bullets in their raids.
“Two of the terrorists have admitted that they were facilitating and planning suicide attacks, while the remaining four were to serve as the attacks,” said Naseem Chaudhry, one of the investigating officers. “Both the planners have claimed they were going to stage attacks on sensitive government installations in Kamra and Rawalpindi on the directions of TTP leaders,” he added.
Police across Pakistan are currently on high alert due to the potential for retaliatory strikes from the Pakistani Taliban, who have been targeted by the country’s armed forces as part of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Launched in North Waziristan, the military and government have vowed that the operation will continue until terrorists have been “eliminated” from the region.