Daily Times

A number of major terrorist incidents have been averted owing to the timely operations of security agencies, Prime Minister Imran Khan said while addressing the families of the Machh tragedy in Quetta on Saturday.

The Prime Minister said he got the intelligence about foreign-funded terrorist groups who were planning to trigger chaos in the country on basis of sectarian clashes in March and he shared the information with the cabinet. He said a number of measures were taken to ensure coordinated operations against the various terrorist outfits who were bent upon creating chaos in society. “I laud the Inter-Services Intelligence because they managed to preempt three or four plots to kill Shia or Sunni ulema … I have no doubt in my mind that what happened is part of a bigger game,” Khan said. He said he believed that there were between 35 to 40 people spreading chaos in the country. “We have a whole program prepared, and a security forces cell is being made which will look at providing you with protection and pursuing those responsible,” he said.

As per the data collected by the APP just in the past few months, a number of major foreign terrorist groups operating in Pakistan have been busted. According to a senior security official, most of the groups work under different cover names and banners but have the same foreign intelligence agencies as their paymasters. Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday, Jan 8, awarded a 15-year jail term to Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – a proscribed organization, over charges of terrorism and terror financing. ATC Judge Aijaz Ahmad Butter sentenced Lakhvi to five years’ rigorous imprisonment each on three counts with fine of Rs 100,000 rupees each on three counts.

Sargodha Bust

In a joint operation on January 6 and 7, the Counter-Terrorism Department Punjab and a sensitive agency busted an international terrorist network in Sargodha.

The whole group was busted after initial arrest of two terrorists, who revealed that the group of seven planned to eliminate leaders of another sect, to create sectarian strife in the country.

Terrorists of Rawalpindi Blasts

In another Intelligence Based Operation (IBO) in Rawalpindi on Dec 14, 2020, the CTD Punjab arrested three terrorists involved in four bomb blasts in Rawalpindi in 2020, including the Pir Wadhai Bomb Blast of December 4.

The terrorists were ready to strike the Islamabad Stock Exchange. The CTD recovered explosives from them. The CTD Rawalpindi Team on a tip-off raided a place at Adyala-Kharakan Road along the Swan River Rawalpindi on the basis of investigation and evidence collected from Pir Wadhai crime scene.

Rajanpur Operation

Five key members of the al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) network were arrested by CTD Punjab and ISI Counter-Terrorism Wing (CTW) in a joint Intelligence Based Operation (IBO) in the Goth Mazari, Tehsil Rojhan District Rajanpur. A joint team been collecting intelligence about the network for the past several months. The network was shifting from Balochistan to Rajanpur and was planning to launch terrorist attacks on vital installations in South Punjab. An IBO was conducted and suicide jackets, hand grenades, Kalashnikov, rifles, pistols and ammunition were recovered.

Counter-Terrorism Department – Sindh

Similarly, in Sindh, the Counter-Terrorism Department in the year 2020 registered 211 cases related to terrorism, arrested 132 suspects, including 103 for involvement in heinous crimes and 23 others for terror financing.