Four more alleged terrorists arrested in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The Capital City Police arrested four alleged terrorists associated with a banned militant organisation and involved in various acts of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an official said on Sunday.

An official said the four terrorists were involved in attacks on the police as well targeting the houses of civilians with bombs and demanding extortion. The arrested men were identified as Aqal Baz, Shoaib, Zubair and Atif. The official said four grenades and ammunition were also recovered from the arrested terrorists. The terrorists were planning to go underground after the arrest of their group members but were apprehended before they could manage to escape, the official added.

Eight members of the organisation were arrested during actions last week. Operations against the groups involved in terrorist activities in Peshawar, Bannu and other districts have been accelerated in the last few days. Last Monday, the police had arrested four alleged terrorists of the same group during an encounter in Hayatabad locality in Peshawar. Another four were arrested on the basis of information obtained from the held men the same day.

A total of 12 members of the group have been arrested in a week. The officials said these terrorists belonged to the outlawed Jamaatul Ahrar and Hizbul Ahrar.

"Those held during actions in the last one week were involved in terrorist attacks on the police and civilians in the last few weeks," Capital City Police Officer Mohammad Ali Gandapur said. He said the terrorists were planning more attacks in the provincial capital when they were held following a tip off from the intelligence agencies. He added the group was involved in attacks on Karkhano Police posts twice on January 14 and February 23. Besides, he added, they had attacked the houses of locals in Matani and Bhanamari localities in Peshawar after demanding extortion money. Mohammad Ali Gandapur pointed out that the police have accelerated actions against the terrorists as well as street criminals and busted a number of groups. He said this had helped reduce the number of snatchings and robberies in the city.