Weekend sweep: Eight suspected terrorists arrested

60 individuals were nabbed in Mardan, 40 released later

BANNU/PESHAWAR: Eight terrorists were arrested from different parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.

The anti-terrorist squad (ATS)in Bannu received an intelligence report about the presence of six suspected terrorists in an under construction house owned by Naik Nawaz, resident of Pirdil Khel. Acting on the tip-off, ATS raided a house and arrested six individuals. Nawaz managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

The suspects were identified as Abidullah, Shahmur Rehman, Anwar Kamal, Safdar Iqbal, Mansoor and Qudratullah. They are said to belong to Bannu and adjacent tribal regions. An FIR has been registered against them under the terrorism act and they were shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

The police seized two AK-47s, two TT pistols, 20 IEDs, a safety fuse, a primacard, ball bearings and other ammunition.

Two militants nabbed

Special Police Unit Bannu carried out a raid in the jurisdiction of Meeryan police station and arrested an alleged militant identified as Sadaqatullah, said a press release issued by the police on Monday.

Police said the suspect belonged to Badabher and is associated with a banned militant group. Police also recovered three kilogrammes of explosives.

In another raid, SPU Malakand nabbed a terrorist Fazal-e-Khaleq in Matta, Swat. The suspect was involved in kidnapping a man identified as Sultan Mehmood from Kalakot, Swat in 2009. He was also shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

In Mardan, the police said they arrested 60 suspects Sunday midnight. At least 40 of those detained were later freed, while 20 were held for further interrogation.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2016.