70,000 terrorists arrested under NAP: Nacta

ISLAMABAD: Coordinator National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) Ihsan Ghani on Monday said 70,000 terrorists had so far been arrested in the country under the National Action Plan (NAP).

He said this while briefing the media about progress on the NAP here. Ihsan said 8,852 armed militants and from banned outfits were arrested from different parts and 11 others were killed in retaliation.

He said 14,000 people had been arrested through the established helpline 1717. He said 126 accounts with accumulated deposits of over Rs1 billion of banned organizations had been frozen. About the Karachi operation, the Nacta coordinator said there was 70 percent reduction in target killingsand murders and 80 percent reduction in terrorist incidents.

He said efforts were being made to ensure that extremists do not get a foothold in Punjab. Ihsan Ghani said in Balochistan 625 Fararis had surrendered to the authorities concerned and the government was in contact with estranged Baloch nationalists.

He said the deadline for the return of registered Afghan refugees had been set at December 31st this year. Similarly, a total of 2,159 terrorists have been killed and 1,724 arrested by law enforcement agencies under the NAP.

On Friday, the Interior Ministry and Narcotics Control presented an achievement report on the NAP in the National Assembly. According to the report, 332 persons had been executed under the Anti-Terrorism Act so far.

The report stated that 98.3 million SIMs had been blocked for dismantling communication networks of terrorists.  At least 933 URLs and 10 websites of militant organisations have also been blocked by the Ministry of Information Technology.

The report also detailed that 2,337 cases were registered over hate speeches and hate material while 2,195 people were arrested and 73 shops sealed.