Terrorists planned attacks across the province, wanted to target important installations.

One IED bomb, explosive material, protective fuse and hand grenade recovered from terrorists.

LAHORE   -   Punjab’s Counterterrorism Department (CTD) arrested at least 16 suspected terrorists after successful raids in different parts of the prov­ince during the last week. According to a spokes­man, the department conducted 45 combing operations in various districts with the help of local police and security agencies, arrest­ed suspected terrorists and registered cases against them. He said 12 combing operations were carried out in Lahore, and a total of 1,002 people were checked. Three combing opera­tions were carried out in Sheikhupura, 149 sus­pects were interrogated and 42 persons were biometrically checked. A total of six combing operations were conducted in Gujranwala, and 163 people were interrogated. A total of four combing operations were conducted in Rawal­pindi, in which 193 persons were checked and one suspect was arrested case was registered.The spokesperson said that four operations were conducted in Sargodha, 128 suspects were interrogated and their biometric records were also checked. In Faisalabad, a total of four operations were conducted, 155 people were interrogated and their biometric records were also checked. In Sahiwal, three operations were carried out, 50 persons were checked and bio­metric records of 16 were also checked. During two operations in Multan, 55 persons were in­terrogated and biometric records of 99 persons were also checked. In Dera Ghazi Khan, during four operations, 145 persons were interrogat­ed and biometrics of 90 persons were checked, and three suspected persons were arrested. In Bahawalpur, three areas were checked and a to­tal of 74 people were interrogated. CTD Punjab arrested 12 alleged terrorists of banned outfits during operations on Friday. According to of­ficials, CTD Punjab conducted 59 intelligence-based operations in different districts of the province to effectively deal with any untoward incident of terrorism, in which 61 suspected persons were interrogated and 8 alleged ter­rorists were arrested with weapons, explosives and other prohibited materials.

He said that among the arrested terrorists are Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan members Ir­shadullah, Kaleemullah, Manzoor Khan, Niaz Muhammad, Muhammad Zubair, Lashkari Jhangvi members Najibullah, Muhammad Ta­hir, Al-Qaeda members, Muhammad Luqman, Syed Anas Waqar, Muhammad Sulaiman Khan, Sana Deed and Muhammad Aftab. The spokes­man said that one IED bomb, 2303 grams of explosive, 31 feet of protective fuse, one hand grenade, 14 detonators, 2 feet of prima cord, 1 pistol of 30 bore with 7 bullets, 56 stickers, 68 pamphlets, 10 books of banned organization, 4 receipt books and 17880 rupees in cash have been recovered from the terrorists. He said that the terrorists had planned attacks across the province and wanted to target important installations and other religious places. Fur­thermore, during this week, a total of 797 Combing operations were conducted with the help of Local Police and law and enforcement agencies, he said and added that during these Combing Operations, 37423 persons were checked, 150 suspects were arrested ,106 FIRs were registered and 101 recoveries were made. The Counter Terrorism Department Punjab is diligently pursuing its goal of a safe Punjab and no stone will be left unturned in its efforts to bring terrorists and anti-state ele­ments behind bars.