Police and intelligence agents raided a suspected terrorist hide-out in eastern Pakistan yesterday, arresting at least 12 people after a prolonged gunbattle, officials said. At least four of those arrested in the raid in Gujrat were foreigners, said Saadatullah Khan, the chief of police for Punjab province, where Gujrat is located. Security forces returned fire after they were attacked from inside the home and the standoff lasted about six hours, Khan said. It was not clear what the suspects were accused of doing, or what group they belonged to. "This will come to the surface once our investigations are completed," Khan told The Associated Press. He had no details on where the foreigners were from. Police sources, however, said some of those arrested were allegedly involved in attack on the Karachi corps commander on June 10.
| Seems fairly clear that the suspects were shooting it out with the cops. But there don't seem to be any laws against that in Pakland... |
| No laws against the cops actually hitting whoever they're shooting it out with, but it never seems to happen ... |
Two AK-47 rifles, two computers, computer diskettes, and a "large amount" of foreign currency was found at the home, said Raja Munawar, the chief of police in Gujrat. He said the suspects belonged to a "religious terrorist group" without specifying any organization by name. Raja Munawar said five men, three women and five children were detained. "One of the children is an infant," he added.
| Was the little brat armed? |
An official at the Interior Ministry in the capital Islamabad confirmed the arrests, saying one of the suspects was wounded in the shootout.
| The Pakalonian kops have to work on those marksmanship skills... |
| Dare we say, pray for sepsis? |
Officials were interrogating the suspects to determine their links with any terrorist group but none of them appeared to be senior figures, said Abdul Rauf Chaudhry, a spokesman for the ministry. An intelligence officer in Lahore, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an Uzbek woman was among the suspects arrested in the raid. He said another terror suspect, who was already in custody, accompanied intelligence agents, indicating he led the security forces to the house. The militants have been living in the house with their families for the last one and a half months. A police source said three of the suspects rented the house from Ijaz Warraich, an employee of the Muslim Commercial Bank, Mirpur branch. |