Operation against LeT to go on: Pakistani Army

Islamabad: The operation by Pakistani security forces against banned terrorist groups, including the Lashker-e-Toiba (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 Lakhvi, accused of masterminding the Mumbai terror attacks, is among more than 20 activists of the Lashker and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa who have been arrested since the crackdown began on Sunday, sources said.

Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations Major General Athar Abbas 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 Lakhvi was among two dozen people who had been arrested.

The Pakistan Army on monday confirmed that a crackdown had been launched against banned terrorist 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 on 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.

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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 said that the operation was launched ahead of the three-day holidays for Eid-ul-Azha, which began on Tuesday, as the government did not want to be seen as cracking down on the terrorists 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 on Monday ordered the sealing of all offices of banned groups like the LeT and Jamaat.

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