National Action Plan: Nearly 9,000 ‘terrorists’, 1,710 clerics arrested

Security agencies conduct 9,912 search operations in Punjab and K-P alone.

ISLAMABAD:

Security officials have rounded up at least 9,000 suspected terrorists and 1,710 clerics as part of a massive crackdown launched in the wake of the execution of the National Action Plan (NAP).

The crackdown – mounted after a new anti-terror strategy was drawn up to eradicate militancy from the country – has also targeted people promoting hate speech. Up to 3,100 prayer leaders of various seminaries/mosques in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Islamabad have been picked up so far.

Over 3,650 Afghan refugees suspected of involvement in terror-related activities, were also arrested by the police, Rangers and Frontier Constabulary (FC) across the country, according to the latest figures obtained by The Express Tribune.

Another 490 and 400 suspected militants have been picked up in Sindh and Balochistan, respectively.

Law enforcement agencies, in coordination with intelligence operators, have conducted around 9,912 search operations in Punjab and K-P, according to the figures shared by senior officials of provincial home departments and the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta).

Some 5,510 terror suspects of an estimated 9,000 have been put on a new watch list under the 4th schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Officials say K-P is at the forefront of the battle having arrested some 6,702 suspected militants – a majority of them had soft corners for banned organisations.

The K-P police and the FC jointly arrested 2,700 Afghan refugees in a fresh crackdown in several cities. Around 217 prayer leaders were also booked for violating loudspeakers’ laws.

The Punjab police nabbed 1,087 suspected militants in more than 5, 501 search operations while 950 suspected Afghan refugees were also held under the Foreign Act to root out terrorism from the province.

Punjab arrested 1,471 clerics for violating the ban on loudspeakers. While Gujranwala police with cooperation of Punjab Rangers arrested over 370 Afghan refugees in this campaign.

At the same time, Islamabad police arrested 150 suspected militants and the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government has named 37 militants to the new terror watch list. More than 70 prayer leaders were arrested for violating loudspeakers’ laws in the federal capital while 127 were booked for hate speech in Islamabad.

Cases of ‘jet-black terrorists’

The provinces have identified some 267 cases of ‘jet-black terrorists’, revealed a senior official monitoring progress over the NAP.

Missing deadlines

Meanwhile, the government has missed the deadline of resuming trials of jet black terrorists in military courts by January 21 as prime minister’s special assistants Zafarullah Khan and Khawaja Zaheer were tasked on December 26 last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2015.