Karachi, February 12

Nearly 100 hardcore militants of several top terror networks like al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Tehreek- e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been arrested on Friday, army said on Tuesday.

Army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa said the suspected militants were arrested from here during ongoing intelligence-based operations in the city.

The militants had set up joint task team for carrying out terror attacks in the country, army said They are suspected to have been involved in some major terror attacks in the past like the Mehran airbase Karachi, Jinnah airport in Karachi, PAF base in Kamra and several others.

They also “nearly” executed a plan to break into Hyderabad jail to free top al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, who was allegedly involved in the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, Bajwa said. Sheikh has been sentenced to death for killing journalist Daniel Pearl.

Sheikh, among the militants released by India in 1999 in exchange for the nearly 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814, is also suspected to have played a crucial role in the September 2001 attacks in the US.

The perpetrators also had a list of 35 prisoners they wanted to kill, Bajwa said.

“The first few militants were arrested a few months ago and it led to more arrests,” the army spokesperson said.

Bajwa said Karachi operation launched in September 2013 had achieved major success as over 12,000 suspects were arrested in over 7,000 raids, leading to dramatic decrease in crimes of killings, kidnapping and extortions.

“The Karachi operation will continue till complete peace is achieved in the city,” he said. — PTI