Daily Times

The Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department said on Tuesday that it had foiled a possible militant attack on the Islamabad Stock Exchange after the arrest of three terrorists involved in the Rawalpindi bomb blast.

A statement issued by the CTD said the militants admitted to carrying out four terrorist attacks in the country and planned to bomb the Islamabad Stock Exchange. It said militant organisations operating from Afghanistan had provided financial support. The CTD said it also seized explosives during the operation.

The CTD personnel raided a militant hideout in Rawalpindi, arresting three suspects linked to past bomb attacks, including a blast that took place in the garrison city’s Pirwadhai area earlier this month. According to a police statement, the suspects were involved in four bombings that killed four people and wounded 30 others, this year alone. It said the arrested militants had a history of links with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but were now allegedly acting as mercenaries and receiving instructions from someone in Afghanistan.

On December 4, an improvised explosive device had gone off outside a general store in the Pirwadhai area, leaving one person dead and seven others injured. The blast triggered fire in an auto-rickshaw parked outside the shop and caused considerable damage to the Usman General Store. The CTD raid comes a day after a roadside explosion wounded 25 people near a police station in Rawalpindi’s busy Ganj Mandi area. Initial reports suggested it was a hand grenade attack. City Police Officer Rawalpindi Ahsan Younas had said it was the second attack near a police station in 10 days.