Would-be bombers among 11 nailed near Quetta

Three of the detainees belonged to North Waziristan, official says

QUETTA: In an ongoing province-wide hunt for militants, paramilitary troops claimed on Sunday that they have detained at least 11 suspected Taliban terrorists in a raid in the suburbs of the provincial capital.

A strange mix of ethnic, sectarian and religious militants have found sanctuaries in Balochistan since 2006 when a low-key Baloch insurgency was exacerbated by the death of Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Bugti in a military operation.

The paramilitary Frontier Corps was tipped off about the presence of Taliban militants in a huge compound in the Kuchlak area, about 40 kilometres away from Quetta, an FC official told The Express Tribune. Subsequently, a raiding party was sent to the area.

“The FC troops arrested 11 terrorists, including four would-be suicide bombers, from the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),” the official said. A cache of arms and ammunition, including suicide vests and homemade bombs, was also seized from the compound.

The official added that three of the detained terror suspects belonged to North Waziristan Agency where Operation Zarb-e-Azb has been ongoing since mid-June last year. “These terrorists were plotting attacks in Quetta,” he claimed.

The paramilitary official further claimed that the detained terrorists were involved in attacks on security checkpoints, police convoys and kidnappings.

Over the past few months, the paramilitary force has mounted several search operations in northern Balochistan which also shares a border with the troubled South Waziristan Agency. A few days back the FC had killed six suspected terrorists in search operations in Loralai district.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2015.