Pak security forces arrest over 1,800 suspected militants

Islamabad, Jan 23: Pakistan authorities have arrested more than 1,800 suspected extremists as crackdown on militants intensified in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre that left 150 people dead, officials said today.

Pakistan adopted 20-points National Action Plan (NAP) with the baseline of zero-tolerance for extremism and use of police and military force to curb violence. An official of the PM House said that so far "1,859 suspects have been arrested in intelligence based operation."

He said 958 were nabbed in Punjab, 244 in Sindh, 235 Islamabad, 234 Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and 188 in Balochistan. He said that 5,487 search operations were conducted in Punjab, 322 in Sindh, 1,223 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 in Balochistan and 275 in Islamabad. In Punjab, 2,837 cases have been registered for misuse of loudspeakers so far, out of which 1,471 have led to arrests.

Police arrested 339 people for hate speech and 41 shops were sealed in Punjab for selling hate material. The government has also set up military courts for speedy trial of militants. The authorities also executed 20 militants and dozens more are in the line of death. Several organisations have also been included in the list of banned entities.

PTI