AJK arms network dismantled: Talal

Minister alleges weapons supplied to JAAC through network

ISLAMABAD:

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry on Wednesday said that security agencies apprehended a man during an Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) for supplying "illegal weapons to a proscribed organisation, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

"A man identified as Zia has been operating this illegal network for around 8-10 years in AJK; he has supplied several consignments of weapons over the past two years to people associated with JAAC," said Talal during a press conference in Islamabad.

The minister also said that the network extended beyond arms trafficking and was involved in "smuggling vehicles, petrol and narcotics".

Chaudhry further said that Zia had been in contact with Zarshad, who was based in Afghanistan and supplied illegally acquired weapons to Pakistan. He said that another individual, identified as Akbar and described as a government employee, used the cover of his institution to transport weapons from Bara to AJK.

The minister added that Afghanistan was being used as a "super-proxy" to spread unrest in Pakistan, saying that authorities conducted IBOs to dismantle a terrorist network involved in funding and supporting a proscribed JAAC.

He said with authority that the JAAC was not banned for expressing political dissent and stressed that they were outlawed for engaging in illegal activities that can be proved through evidence.

He further stated that the government had fulfilled 37 of the 38 demands of the committee, but the group announced a long march and tried to snub recent elections.

Chaudhry said that around 200 IBOs were conducted across the country every day to contain the threat of terrorism, and the authorities had found that individuals based in Afghanistan were involved in supplying weapons to Pakistan.