Pakistani police officers escort detained militants, faces covered with a cloth, to produce them into Anti Terrorism Court in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. Police arrested seven members of an al-Qaida-linked group and seized suicide vests, explosives and heroin during a raid in Pakistan's southern commercial center that thwarted planned terrorist attacks, officials said.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is battling al-Qaida and Taliban militants blamed for scores of terrorist attacks over the last two years. On Aug. 5, the campaign got a major boost when Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was believed to have been killed in a U.S. missile strike close to the Afghan border, where the militants are strongest.
Six of the militants were arrested Monday in two raids in the eastern city of Sargodha, police chief Usman Anwar said.
He said they were linked to Mehsud's Taliban and had planned to launch strikes next week on at least two places of worship, foreigners, politicians and minorities in the city. He said the raids had "prevented mayhem," giving no more details.
Among the six was Zaid Mustafa, who Anwar said recruited potential suicide bombers for training in Afghanistan and who is suspected of providing logistics, explosives and other support for terror attacks in Lahore, Karachi or Rawalpindi.
"Every time the Taliban in tribal areas wanted to carry out an attack in Pakistani cities, Zaid would certainly be on board," Anwar said.
The seven militants arrested in Karachi were members of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi movement, blamed for two failed assassination attempts against former President Pervez Musharraf and the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
The arrests Sunday prevented attacks the militants were planning in Karachi on government officials, police and offices of intelligence agencies, police officer Saud Mirza said. He would not be more specific about the targets, saying it could jeopardize an ongoing investigation.
Police seized three suicide vests, 33 pounds (15 kilograms) of explosives, 10 assault weapons and about 4.5 pounds (2 kilograms) of heroin, according to Karachi police officer Fayyaz Khan.
The raid provided rare intelligence on how drug money is transferred among Muslim extremist groups cooperating to fight the Pakistani and Afghan governments as well as foreign troops in Afghanistan, he said.
"It is often talked about that militants do drug business to finance their needs, but this is the first time we have arrested such a gang," Khan told The Associated Press.
The group smuggled the heroin to Singapore, Malaysia, China and United Arab Emirates, he said. Part of the profits were transferred to a Taliban commander named Abdul Samad in Chaman, an area on Pakistan's southwestern border with Afghanistan, Khan said.
Karachi — a teeming port city of more than 16 million — has long been a hotbed for Taliban and al-Qaida-linked groups, who are believed to have staged bank robberies, kidnappings for ransom and other criminal activities to raise funds.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had previously been known as a Sunni sectarian group blamed for attacks on minority Shiite Muslims, whom they consider heretics. However, in recent years the group has been increasingly associated with both the Pakistani Taliban, based mostly in the northwest, and al-Qaida.
Two members of the group were arrested and accused of leading the gang that kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl in Karachi in 2002 on behalf of al-Qaida.
Monday, August 24, 2009
DTN News: Pakistan TODAY August 24, 2009 ~ Series Of Raids By Pakistan Police Foil Attacks
DTN News: Pakistan TODAY August 24, 2009 ~ Series Of Raids By Pakistan Police Foil Attacks
*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - August 24, 2009: Pakistani police arrested 13 Islamist militants and seized suicide vests and heroin for export in raids they said had foiled major attacks in the country's south and east, officers said Monday.
Pakistani police officers escort detained militants, faces covered with a cloth, to produce them into Anti Terrorism Court in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. Police arrested seven members of an al-Qaida-linked group and seized suicide vests, explosives and heroin during a raid in Pakistan's southern commercial center that thwarted planned terrorist attacks, officials said.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is battling al-Qaida and Taliban militants blamed for scores of terrorist attacks over the last two years. On Aug. 5, the campaign got a major boost when Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was believed to have been killed in a U.S. missile strike close to the Afghan border, where the militants are strongest.
Six of the militants were arrested Monday in two raids in the eastern city of Sargodha, police chief Usman Anwar said.
He said they were linked to Mehsud's Taliban and had planned to launch strikes next week on at least two places of worship, foreigners, politicians and minorities in the city. He said the raids had "prevented mayhem," giving no more details.
Among the six was Zaid Mustafa, who Anwar said recruited potential suicide bombers for training in Afghanistan and who is suspected of providing logistics, explosives and other support for terror attacks in Lahore, Karachi or Rawalpindi.
"Every time the Taliban in tribal areas wanted to carry out an attack in Pakistani cities, Zaid would certainly be on board," Anwar said.
The seven militants arrested in Karachi were members of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi movement, blamed for two failed assassination attempts against former President Pervez Musharraf and the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
The arrests Sunday prevented attacks the militants were planning in Karachi on government officials, police and offices of intelligence agencies, police officer Saud Mirza said. He would not be more specific about the targets, saying it could jeopardize an ongoing investigation.
Police seized three suicide vests, 33 pounds (15 kilograms) of explosives, 10 assault weapons and about 4.5 pounds (2 kilograms) of heroin, according to Karachi police officer Fayyaz Khan.
The raid provided rare intelligence on how drug money is transferred among Muslim extremist groups cooperating to fight the Pakistani and Afghan governments as well as foreign troops in Afghanistan, he said.
"It is often talked about that militants do drug business to finance their needs, but this is the first time we have arrested such a gang," Khan told The Associated Press.
The group smuggled the heroin to Singapore, Malaysia, China and United Arab Emirates, he said. Part of the profits were transferred to a Taliban commander named Abdul Samad in Chaman, an area on Pakistan's southwestern border with Afghanistan, Khan said.
Karachi — a teeming port city of more than 16 million — has long been a hotbed for Taliban and al-Qaida-linked groups, who are believed to have staged bank robberies, kidnappings for ransom and other criminal activities to raise funds.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had previously been known as a Sunni sectarian group blamed for attacks on minority Shiite Muslims, whom they consider heretics. However, in recent years the group has been increasingly associated with both the Pakistani Taliban, based mostly in the northwest, and al-Qaida.
Two members of the group were arrested and accused of leading the gang that kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl in Karachi in 2002 on behalf of al-Qaida.
Pakistani police officers escort detained militants, faces covered with a cloth, to produce them into Anti Terrorism Court in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. Police arrested seven members of an al-Qaida-linked group and seized suicide vests, explosives and heroin during a raid in Pakistan's southern commercial center that thwarted planned terrorist attacks, officials said.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is battling al-Qaida and Taliban militants blamed for scores of terrorist attacks over the last two years. On Aug. 5, the campaign got a major boost when Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was believed to have been killed in a U.S. missile strike close to the Afghan border, where the militants are strongest.
Six of the militants were arrested Monday in two raids in the eastern city of Sargodha, police chief Usman Anwar said.
He said they were linked to Mehsud's Taliban and had planned to launch strikes next week on at least two places of worship, foreigners, politicians and minorities in the city. He said the raids had "prevented mayhem," giving no more details.
Among the six was Zaid Mustafa, who Anwar said recruited potential suicide bombers for training in Afghanistan and who is suspected of providing logistics, explosives and other support for terror attacks in Lahore, Karachi or Rawalpindi.
"Every time the Taliban in tribal areas wanted to carry out an attack in Pakistani cities, Zaid would certainly be on board," Anwar said.
The seven militants arrested in Karachi were members of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi movement, blamed for two failed assassination attempts against former President Pervez Musharraf and the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
The arrests Sunday prevented attacks the militants were planning in Karachi on government officials, police and offices of intelligence agencies, police officer Saud Mirza said. He would not be more specific about the targets, saying it could jeopardize an ongoing investigation.
Police seized three suicide vests, 33 pounds (15 kilograms) of explosives, 10 assault weapons and about 4.5 pounds (2 kilograms) of heroin, according to Karachi police officer Fayyaz Khan.
The raid provided rare intelligence on how drug money is transferred among Muslim extremist groups cooperating to fight the Pakistani and Afghan governments as well as foreign troops in Afghanistan, he said.
"It is often talked about that militants do drug business to finance their needs, but this is the first time we have arrested such a gang," Khan told The Associated Press.
The group smuggled the heroin to Singapore, Malaysia, China and United Arab Emirates, he said. Part of the profits were transferred to a Taliban commander named Abdul Samad in Chaman, an area on Pakistan's southwestern border with Afghanistan, Khan said.
Karachi — a teeming port city of more than 16 million — has long been a hotbed for Taliban and al-Qaida-linked groups, who are believed to have staged bank robberies, kidnappings for ransom and other criminal activities to raise funds.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had previously been known as a Sunni sectarian group blamed for attacks on minority Shiite Muslims, whom they consider heretics. However, in recent years the group has been increasingly associated with both the Pakistani Taliban, based mostly in the northwest, and al-Qaida.
Two members of the group were arrested and accused of leading the gang that kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl in Karachi in 2002 on behalf of al-Qaida.
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