Terrorists may target minorities in another attack

LAHORE: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that intelligence information was warned of another terror attack on other minorities.

Talking to the media in Lahore, he said that terrorists hiding in South Punjab have started to come out in the open. The Interior Minister said that the banned outfits of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jash-e-Muhammad are part of TTP and Al-Qaeda, adding that 29 banned organizations have been supporting terrorists inside the country.

He also condemned the terrorist attacks on two places of worship of the Ahmedi community on Friday, adding that it is state's responsibility to protect the minorities.

Jammat-i-Ahmedia's demand for security

The Jammat-i-Ahmedia demanded that the government provide security to the Ahmedi minority sect on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore director Anjuman-i-Ahmedia Mirza Ghulam Ahmed said that they did not demand compensation from the government but it was the duty of the government to protect them.

He said that in Model Town the CCTV cameras installed in the worship place did not work due to loadshedding. However, the CCTV footage of the Garhi Shaho attack was handed over to the police. He said that security was not sufficient in both worship places and only 4 policemen were deployed.

He also said that the banners were displayed against their community at Mall Road and Garhi Shaho. Jamat Ahmadiyya Spokesman Ghulam Ahmad said that the government had taken Friday's terror attacks very seriously. He was talking to media in Lahore.

Earlier, the Punjab Police claimed to have made headway in the investigation of terror attacks on Ahmedis worship places during Friday prayers.

Briefing the media at Central Police Office, the Punjab Police Spokesman DIG Akram Naeem Bharokah said the police arrested two terrorists from Model Town, namely Abdullah alias Muhammad son of Atta Ullah Chachar of Saje Village Rahim Yar Khan, and Muaz in injured condition while two terrorists Mansoor and Durwaish were killed during police encounter at Garhi Shahu.

It was disclosed in the preliminary investigation, he said, all the four terrorists were teenagers having links with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, while a militant trainer Muneeb trained all of them at Miran Shah, North Waziristan Agency. Bharokah said the terrorists came to Lahore from Miran Shah via Bannu district through a public bus on May 21 and stayed in Braili Mosque near Batti Chowk.

The same day they divided into two groups and conducted reconnaissance of their respective targets under the guidance of their accomplices over here. Later,they kept on changing their hide-outs. On May 28, their local accomplices dropped Abdullah and Muaz at 87C Model Town, and Mansoor and Durwaish at Ahmed is Jamaat Khana in Garhi Shahu, besides providing them ammunition, hand grenades and explosive jackets at around 1:30pm.

Both the groups attacked their targets at around 1:35pm when the Ahmedis were busy in their adoration, killing 52 people in Garhi Shahu and 27 in Model Town. While 107 people received injuries- 73 in Garhi Shahu and 34 in Model Town, he maintained. The DIG said the terrorists also inflicted bullet injuries to nine policemen including an SP and ASP of Civil Lines Police at Garhi Shahu and an Inspector at Model Town.

To a question, he said, the terrorist network is very complex and they organize different groups for different targets, therefore, it will be pre-mature to talk about presence of other terrorists in the Punjab capital city.However, the initial investigation would prove to be veryhelpful to trace and dismantle the terrorists network, he added.

He said, the police also recovered 18 grenade, 19 detonators, four kilograms explosive, one full live explosive jacket and one half live jacket, one bull action kalashnikov,55 live bullets, seven magazines, 177 bullet rounds, six primacards from the terrorists at 87C Model Town, and two kalashnikovs and four hand grenades at Garhi Shahu.