Pak arrests mastermind of Mumbai Terror attacks
Muzaffarabad/Islamabad,
Dec
8:
Pakistani
security
forces
have
launched
a
'quiet' crackdown
on
activists
affiliated
with
the
Jamaat-ud-Dawa,
the
political
wing
of
the
banned
militant
outfit
Lashkar-e-Toiba
on
the
Pakistan
side
of
Kashmir
as
well
as
in
other
parts
of
the
country.
According
to
the
Dawn,
in
Muzaffarabad,
a
major
army
operation
was
under
way
in
the
city
suburbs
on
Sunday,
Dec
7
against
a
site
being
used
by
the
Jamaat-ud-Dawa,
which
is
headed
by
Hafiz
Mohammad
Saeed.
Sources told the paper that more than 20 members of the banned organisation and Lashkar-e-Toiba's 'commander' Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi had been arrested.
There are reports that similar actions are planned in some cities and towns of Punjab.
Pakistan is under international pressure to take action against the organisation for its alleged involvement in the Nov 26- Nov 29 Mumbai terror attacks.
However, reports of the crackdown could not be confirmed from the interior ministry or the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Police and civil administration officials in Muzaffarabad told reporters they did not know what was happening.
Local residents, however, said they had seen army personnel taking control of the area along Shawai Nullah, some five kilometers northwest of Muzaffarabad, where the organisation possesses a large plot of land on which several buildings had been built.
Hafiz Saeed is said to have occupied the same place before the organisation was proscribed.
There were also unconfirmed reports of an exchange of fire.
Ambulances from various city hospitals had been called to the area by troops but witnesses said they returned without any injured person.
In Chehla Bandi, soldiers are reported to be checking vehicles bound for the Neelum Valley.
Several attempts were made to obtain army's version about the reported operation but reporters were told that a statement would soon be issued by the ISPR.
ANI