15 prominent people on militant hit-lists

Investigations of two suspected militants revealed Dr Ayesha Siddiqa was on the hit-list of a certain militant group.

ISLAMABAD: The investigation of two suspected militants, arrested from Gujranwala in June 2010, revealed that Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, a prominent defense analyst, was on the hit-list of a certain militant group.

The two suspects revealed a list of 15 well-known people who were being targeted by this militant group.

The police have not offered Dr Siddiqa any security.

“I had come to know of the threat through a newspaper but nothing has been conveyed to me officially by the government,” Dr Siddiqa told The Express Tribune.

Earlier this month on August 17, Inspector General of Police (IG) Islamabad, Kaleem Imam, told media that intelligence agencies had given them the names of people who were potentially on militant hit-lists. Their security detailing had been increased.

Sources revealed that PML-N leaders Ahsan Iqbal, Khurram Dastgir Khan, PPP leaders Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Chaudhary Ahmad Mukhtar and two members of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab were some of the prominent members on militant hit-lists.

While Siddiqa denied she had received any advice and assistance from the authorities, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal also claimed that he had not been warned by authorities.

“The authorities have not communicated any such thing to me nor have I received any extra security,” said Iqbal.

Sources in the Islamabad Police told The Express Tribune that police teams had been sent to different areas of the country to arrest certain militants linked to these hit-lists.

“We are confident that we will be able to catch them. Once they are in our custody, the threat to prominent personalities will be diminished,” said an official.

Talking to The Express Tribune he added that one of the reasons for not communicating the threat to these people was to avoid creating unnecessary panic.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2010.