Pakistan arrests ISIS terrorists, thwarts plot to attack intel agency offices

Pakistan's security agencies have thwarted an attack on the offices of an intelligence agency in south Punjab and arrested two terrorists of Islamic State (IS) militant group, an official said on Thursday.

"The Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police received information that some terrorists are hiding near Alipur bypass Muzaffarghar, some 350 km from Lahore, and they have planned to target the offices of an intelligence agency there," the CTD official said. He said a team of CTD Multan in collaboration with local police and the intelligence agency raided their hideout on Tuesday night.

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"The raiding team surrounded the hideout of terrorists forcing them to surrender. The arrested terrorists have been identified as Akhtar Alam and Hussain Ahmad. They belong to Daesh  (Islamic State)," he said. Hand grenades, weapons, and cash have been recovered from them. The suspects were shifted to an undisclosed location for further investigation.

Pakistan, which often denies the presence of Daesh (ISIS) in the country, has arrested scores of IS members mostly in Punjab during the last few years.  The trial of such suspects is held in anti-terrorism courts. The authorities concerned usually do not officially share data with the media regarding the conviction of such suspects. However, as per experts, recruitments for IS had been going on in Pakistan since its establishment in 2014. 

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Terrorism in Pakistan

FATF has expressed its displeasure over Pakistan's inaction in fighting the terror outfits extending its grey list status with warnings of further action if the country fails to comply with the action plan suggested. The new deadline for Pakistan is February 2020 before which it has to act on the recommendations of the FATF, failure to which might get it blacklisted.

Terrorist Hafiz Saeed has been operating in Pakistan, despite being designated as a global terrorist and the country facing the heat of the global community and FATF. In a sham crackdown on terror, the LeT chief as declared guilty of terror financing by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in a Pakistani court on August 7. 

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(with PTI inputs)