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Pakistan's counter-terrorism unit in Punjab province arrested five alleged terrorists during 21 intelligence-based operations in various districts of the province, officials said on Saturday.
Punjab's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) spokesperson said that they belonged to various banned religious organisations, including the proscribed militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Dawn newspaper reported. The statement added that said the terrorists had "planned to sabotage the province and wanted to target important installations and other religious places". The Dawn report said that weapons and explosives were recovered from the arrested suspects, including an improvised explosive device bomb. The development comes a few days after the CTD arrested five suspected militants during intelligence-based operations across Punjab province. The latest attack comes amid a surge in militancy across Pakistan after TTP called off its ceasefire agreement with the government on November 28 last year and ordered its militants to stage attacks across the country. The year 2022 ended with the deadliest month for Pakistan's security personnel in over a decade, said an Islamabad-based think tank as it pointed to the emergence of TTP as the biggest threat to the country. In its annual report, the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) said Pakistan security forces lost at least 282 personnel during 2022 in attacks that included IED ambushes, suicide attacks, and raids on security posts, mostly in the Pakistan-Afghan border regions. "The year 2022 ended with the deadliest month (thus far) for Pakistan's security personnel over a decade, with the emergence of a new terror triad comprising TTP, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Daesh-Afghanistan as the biggest threat to the country," the CRSS report said. (ANI)
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