Plot foiled: FC seizes huge cache of arms from Chaman

The explosives were likely to be used in targeting Muharram processions in Quetta.

QUETTA:

Frontier Corps (FC) on Thursday seized a huge cache of arms and ammunitions – likely to be used in sectarian violence – from bordering area of Chaman in Balochistan.

“The terrorists had made a plan to target the Muharram processions in and around Quetta but the FC on a tip-off carried out a massive search operation in Chaman town and foiled their terror plot,” said the FC Commandant Col Maqbool, adding that the terror attempt could be disastrous. He was addressing a news conference.

He said two terrorists had been rounded up in the targeted raid and that important disclosures were expected during the interrogations.



He said the FC seized 2,400 anti-personnel mines, two anti-tank mines, 516 homemade bombs, 6 Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), a suicide jacket, religious literature, computer hard disks, mobile phones, 24 timers, 250 detonators,  61 wire rolls, 8 hand grenades,  148 electronic devices, box full of capacitors and other material used for making bombs.

Talking about the security of Muharram procession, Maqbool said the FC had deployed 950 personnel in different parts of Quetta to protect the mourners.

“The FC has installed 36 cameras to monitor the situation and keep a close eye on sensitive places,” he said, adding that the paramilitary force and Pakistan Army had also been deployed at hilltops of the Quetta valley.



The FC personnel also displayed the explosive materials seized during the targeted operation.

Commander Southern Command Naseer Janjua and Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti applauded the FC’s targeted operation in Chaman and said Quetta had been saved from a major terror attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2013.