LAHORE: terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, have been arrested from various parts of Pakistan's Punjab province, police said on Monday.
In a statement, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said that a huge cache of weapons to be used for terrorism in Punjab has also been recovered from them.
The CTD said that it conducted extensive intelligence-based operations across the province and arrested five TTP terrorists - identified as Muneeb Ahmad, Rafique Haider, Muhammad Naeem, Muhammad Iqbal Khan and Ghulam Akbar from Toba Tek Singh and Okara districts of Punjab.
Four members of Al-Qaeda, identified as Hamadur Rehman, Shoukat Hussain, Akhtar Khan and Ahmad Aftab - were arrested from Gujrat district while Muhammad Ahsan of the IS was arrested from Sargodha city.
It said the arrested terrorists have been booked for terrorism charges, terror financing, hate speech, etc.
The CTD said it is also interrogating some arrested suspects for their alleged links with those involved in the killing of policemen in the province in terror attacks.
Last month, the CTD had arrested 11 terrorists of TTP and IS from Punjab during an operation.