Six terrorists behind suicide attacks arrested

LAHORE-In a major breakthrough, City police on Monday claimed to have smashed a network of terrorists linked to Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami and involved in attacks on the worship places of Ahmadis by arresting its six members including the mastermind during successful raids. According to the sources, the terrorists were nabbed during joint raids of the police and intelligence personnel following the law enforcement agencies got important information after grilling the accused captured during attacks of the worship places of Ahmadis in Model Town on May 28, which left 90 dead and over 150 others injured. The arrested terrorists have been identified as Haroon Saeed, Rizwan, Umair, Umer, Javed Alam and Abbas who had planned or facilitated suicidal attacks on Ahmadis worship places in Lahore, Parade Lane Mosque Rawalpindi, Muharram procession Karachi and several other attacks, carried out in Lahore in the recent past. The police seized uniforms of police commandos, 18,000 kg explosive material, Kalashnikoves, hand grenades, anti aircraft guns, rocket launchers, 600 bullets and 16 magazines from their possession. A record cache of weapons, explosive material and ammunition was seized by the City police. 'The (arrested suspects) are all terrorists. Either they planned the attacks or they facilitated. Those who facilitate and those who carry out the attacks deserve equal punishment, City Police Chief Muhammad Aslam Tareen told reporters while addressing a news conference here at police Headquarters on Monday. During preliminary investigations, the terrorists confessed to the investigators that top politicians, key government installations and leading anti-terror institutions were their next targets, he said. Sharing a few details with reporters, Tareen said that the terrorists have been arrested from Muridke, Shahdara and other places and they belong to Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami and Fazal Mehsud group. The terrorists got training from Waziristan and Afghanistan, he added. 'The arrested terrorists were planning big terror attacks in Lahore. It is a big achievement of the Lahore police as we have foiled major possible terror attacks, Aslam Tareen maintained. One of the arrested terrorists is said to be the mastermind behind suicidal attacks at Ahmadis worship places and Jinnah Hospital. Replying to a question, the police chief said that several terror groups are operating in the City and they are 'inter-linked. To another question, he said that the terrorists Haroon Saeed and Rizwan had also taken part in Afghan war and they were recruiting militants from various parts of the country. Umair and Umer were facilitators and Javed Alam and Abbas were the owner of the houses where these terrorists used to take shelter. Haroon Saeed and Rizwan, the main accused, police Chief said, travelled to Lahore from Karachi and had got education from Madrassa Banoria situated in the port City. On May 28, this year, the police captured two terrorists identified as Abdullah and Moavia from Model Town worship place of Ahmadis and carried out raids after collecting important information from them. Investigators managed to capture the terrorists after intercepting their phone calls and tracing motorcycles recovered from the crime scene. The terrorists had also been involved in attacks on policemen in Gulshan Iqbal area, Jinnah hospital, Moon Market and Parade Lane Rawalpindi. Police sources said that a joint team of CIA police and Anti-Terror Squad headed by SP Omar Virk carried out the raids and arrested the terrorists.

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