Three Al Qaeda suspects were arrested on Tuesday night from two different places in Swat. Law enforcement agencies also arrested three men from Nawabshah and moved them to an undisclosed location. Daily Times learnt that security agencies, accompanied by the local police, raided houses of Shafiq-ur-Rehman and Hidayat-ur-Rehman of Charbagh and Sardarul Mulk of Khwazakhela and arrested them. The raids were part of the ongoing crackdown on the accomplices of slain Qaeda operative Amjad Farooqi. Sources said the arrested were suspected supporters of banned militant outfits Jaish e-Muhammad and Tanzim Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi (TNSM). Police seized explosives from their possession.
Security agencies had arrested three more suspects in Nawabshah and were interrogating them about Amjad Farooqi, the Online news agency reported on Wednesday. According to sources, security officials were gathering information on individuals staying in hotels, guest houses and rented houses in Nawabshah and Sukkur. Intelligence sources told Daily Times that Farooqi's telephone index, recovered from his house, may lead to the arrest of over three dozen militants of Harktul Jihad e Islami, Jaish Muhammad and Al Qaeda from different parts of the country. Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told a Cabinet meeting in Islamabad that security forces had "broken the back of Al Qaeda in Pakistan" by killing Farooqi, Online reported. He said about 50 terrorists had been detained after Farooqi's killing. |