Operation against LeT to continue: Pakistan Army

Islamabad, Dec 9 (PTI) The operation by Pakistani
security forces against banned militant groups, including the
Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), will continue till the "desired
results" are achieved and more arrests are expected to be
made, officials have said.

LeT operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi, accused
of masterminding the Mumbai terror attacks, is among more than
20 activists of the Lashker and its front organisation
Jamaat-ud-Dawah who have been arrested since the crackdown
began on Sunday, sources said.

Maj Gen Athar Abbas, Director General of Inter-Services
Public Relations, said there is "no timeframe for the
operation and it will continue across the country till the
desired results were achieved".

Abbas told the Dawn newspaper that the operation is
underway in Muzaffarbad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir, and some other parts of the country. Though he did
not identify the areas where the crackdown would be launched.
The LeT has a sprawling headquarter complex in Muridke,
just outside Lahore.

He said "some arrests have been made, including a top man
of Lashker".

The Dawn quoted officials as saying that they expected
more arrests in the coming days. The newspaper also quoted an
unnamed senior security official as confirming that Lakhwi was
among two dozen people who had been arrested.

The Pakistan Army yesterday confirmed that a crackdown
had been launched against banned militant groups and said an
unspecified number of arrests had been made by law enforcement
agencies in an "intelligence-led operation".

It did not give details of militants taken into custody.
A senior security official said the operation against LeT in
Muzaffarabad's suburbs had continued Monday.

Abbas said authorities "do not want to go into details of
the operation because of certain reasons and sensitivity of
the matter".

The army and all civil security agencies are taking part
in the crackdown, he said.

Asked if the operation was conducted against the backdrop
of the Mumbai attacks and pressure from India and the US to
take action against Pakistan-based elements linked to the
terrorist strike, Abbas said: "It is quite premature to
establish links of the arrested persons with the Mumbai
terrorist attacks."

Sources told PTI that the operation was launched ahead of
the three-day holidays for Eid-ul-Azha, which began Tuesday,
as the government did not want to be seen as cracking down on
the militants during the important festival.

Launching the operation during the holidays would have
given hardline Islamic groups an opportunity to criticise the
government.

Sources also said several LeT activists had also been
arrested in the federal capital. These activists had set up
camps to collect the skins of animals sacrificed during
Eid-ul-Azha. The skins were to be sold to raise funds.

Police in Punjab province Monday ordered the sealing
of all offices of banned groups like the LeT and Jamaat.

Lakhwi and other LeT and Jamaat activists were picked up
following an operation on Sunday at Shawai Nullah, five
kilometres from Muzaffarabad.

The operation was carried out by army troops backed by a
helicopter gunship. Reports said there was an exchange of fire
between the militants and security forces. Local residents
said they had heard two to three explosions.

The crackdown came after two American leaders, Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice and Senator John McCain, and a top
defence official – Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, visited Islamabad and asked the country's top
leadership to act against Pakistan-based elements linked to
the Mumbai attacks.