Pak arrests 600 terror suspects in 200 operations

Pakistan Rangers have killed four terrorists and detained 600 terror suspects during over 200 search operations in Punjab province under the recently launched nation-wide military operation ‘Radd-ul-Fasaad’.

The Pakistan army last week launched ‘Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad’ an Arabic word which translates roughly to ‘elimination of discord’ across the country, to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of its counter-terrorism operations, days after a wave of suicide attacks that killed more than 125 people, including 91 at a Sufi shrine in Sindh.

An important part of the operation was deployment of paramilitary Rangers in Punjab province to counter terrorism.

The army’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said Punjab Rangers conducted over 200 search operations in various areas of Punjab including Karor, Layyah and Rawalpindi and arrested 600 suspects, including Afghan nationals.

Four suspected terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with security personnel, it said in a statement.

During the operation, the paramilitary force searched suspected houses, seminaries and shops, the statement said.

Some suspects belonging to Jamat-u-Ahrar (JuA), believed to be facilitators in the recent terror attacks in the country, are also among the arrested suspects.

JuA had claimed responsibility for the bombing on the Mall Road Lahore and the suicide attack on a shrine in Sehwan Sharif Sindh this month.

Weapons and banned literature have been seized during the operation.

The Nawaz Sharif government has approved the deployment of the Rangers in Punjab province for 60 days after the Mall Road Lahore bombing.