Joint operation: LEAs arrest 30 suspected militants

Weapons and ammunition also confiscated.

PESHAWAR:

Around 30 suspects were arrested in a joint operation by the police and Frontier Corps (FC) in Masho Khel, Masho Pekey and Suliman Khel villages on Saturday.

The operation was conducted in the jurisdiction of Badhaber police station after the recent attack on Awami National Party’s (ANP) former vice president Mian Mushtaq, in which he was killed along with two others. Mushtaq’s vehicle was ambushed while he was driving to Hayatabad from his village, Masho Khel, last Sunday. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.



“We have arrested 30 people and seized three AK-47s, four TT pistols, three rifles and 200 cartridges,” a police official told The Express Tribune. He said the suspects have been shifted to the police station for interrogation and will be released once cleared by the investigation team.

“We have also arrested three proclaimed offenders who were wanted by the police in several murder and attempted murder cases,” he said.

The official confirmed the operation was conducted after the attack on the ANP leader. He added militants have been active in the area for the past six years and have been regularly targeting police and military convoys as well as school buildings.

“Militants infiltrate settled districts from the adjacent tribal belt and we have information that they have hideouts in settled areas that they sometimes use,” revealed the official.

This is the first search operation in a series of such. The police, army and bomb disposal squad will be working together.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2014.