LAHORE - Al-Qaeda and TTP groups can undertake attacks on CPEC projects in Punjab, intelligence inputs yesterday warned the authorities concerned.

The intelligence reports warned the authorities concerned about the threat and recommended increasing the security of the CPEC projects in the Punjab and restricting their movements at night.

Al-Qaeda (Ilyas Kashmiri Group), TTP (Tariq Geedar Group) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are the main terrorist outfits which can launch attacks on those working on the CPEC project.

All the mentioned groups are operating with the aid and abetment of Indian intelligence agency, RAW, and Afghan security service, NDS, from Kandahar, Spin Boldak, Nangarhar, Kunar, Paktia, Paktika, Nooristan and Helmand, they added.

New Delhi, in a bid to engage Islamabad in an unconventional warfare, would increase terror operations through its proxies operating from Afghanistan to calm the sentiments of its people who are being falsely told about Pakistan’s involvement in the Uri (Held Kashmir) attack.

On September 18, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed Pakistan a terrorist state, hours after suspected militants attacked an Indian army base in Held Kashmir.

Meetings of provincial, divisional and district intelligence committees would be summoned soon in all the provinces under different schedules to review the security protocols of the nationals from China as well as Western and Middle Eastern countries, security agencies’ officials told the paper.

The intelligence committees’ moots would also review in detail the contents of the threat reported by their colleagues in the field formations, they added.

The inputs further laid stress upon ensuring special security arrangements for the engineers connected with the CPEC project.

It also asserted that under no circumstances movements of these VVIPs and VIPs would be made without high security escort while night movements must be strictly avoided.

Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) must be followed by the law-enforcing agencies in letter and spirit, the inputs added.

On September 1, a key intelligence agency of the military, in a special search and comb operation, busted two hardcore Al-Qaeda terrorists from Faisalabad and four facilitators of TTP.

In a similar operation on August 13 in Lahore, two of the TTP hardcore terrorists were caught by an intelligence service of the military.

Intelligence agencies’ reports in August warned the provincial government of possible attacks by Al-Qaeda, TTP and its splinters entering from southern and northern borders of the Punjab with Sindh, Balochistan and KP.

The specific threat assessments said that terrorist gangs operating from the Afghan soil had planned to launch suicide attacks on security agencies’ facilities, focusing on the provincial capital and foreign nationals. The attacks can also be carried out in other important cities of the Punjab, focusing on the same targets.

In July 2015, the head of Al-Qaeda, Pakistan chapter, known only with the codename of ‘Abdali,’ was killed in an intelligence-led operation in the Kala Shah Kaku area of Sheikhupura district.

‘Abdali’ had planned to attack the Punjab headquarters of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in the provincial capital and other important official installations as well as important figures.