KARACHI, 18 June — Law enforcement agency officials yesterday arrested seven Arab nationals and eight Afghans following raids in different parts of the city. The Arabs and Afghans suspected to be members of the Al-Qaeda network were being questioned by the American FBI agency and local investigators.

“We have arrested important members of a terrorist gang belonging to a banned sectarian group but cannot provide details at this stage as the investigations and search for their associates are continuing,” the official said requesting he not be named.

“We have recovered dozens of light machine guns, Kalashnikov assault rifles, grenades and explosives from their position,” he added.

“It was a big success. We are also investigating their possible involvement in recent terrorist attacks in Karachi or possible links with Al-Qaeda,” he said.

A senior intelligence official confirmed that the number of FBI personnel has increased recently and around 100 of them arrived yesterday. He said that the FBI has ordered bullet proof cars and other equipment for probing terrorist activities in the city and even in other parts of the country, including Lahore and Islamabad.

The American ambassador-designate to Islamabad had said during her visit to Karachi on Tuesday that her country would extend all possible help to Pakistani authorities to apprehend Al-Qaeda members who seem to have spread all over the city.

“They (Al-Qaeda) members have been active in Karachi and we have to carry out a combing operation” said a senior police official,

Two Arab nations and their five other accomplices were arrested Wednesday night from Kharadar, an old city area and the remaining two were taken prisoner from North Nazimabad.

Their names and nationalities were being kept secret. But about the Afghans, a government official identified them as Ismail, Aga Khan, Abdul Malik, Qandoos, Abdullah, Abdul Ghani, Adam Khan, and Sarmad Ahmad. The chief of Sindh police Kamal Shah claimed that the FBI was providing “technical assistance” while the main work was being done by the police and the local security agencies.

Shah feared that more incidents of bomb blasts can occur in Karachi since the network has been fairly powerful.