KARACHI, 25 September 2004 — Authorities have arrested 31 suspected Al-Qaeda militants on the basis of information provided by Qari Saifullah Akhtar, chief of Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami Al-Almi, sources said.
But they were all small fries, key players in the terrorist network having got away, the sources added
Saifullah, a close aide to former Taleban commander Mulla Omar, was arrested in Dubai last month and handed over to Pakistan. The sources said he had named seven key Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, but had denied his involvement in the recent assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
He was tightlipped on the whereabouts of the Taleban leader.
An intelligence officer said that Saifullah coordinated the terrorist network’s activities in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Middle East and Pakistan. He said intelligence agencies were hunting the seven Al-Qaeda men named by Saifullah, but he would not disclose their names.
In a related development, security agencies were trying to nab a group of terrorists who were allegedly planning to attack US and Western interests in Karachi. They had entered Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan.
Sources said that an intelligence unit had received credible information that recently some terrorists, including foreigners, entered Pakistan from Afghanistan and that they were now hiding in the metropolis and planning to target foreign missions, places of worship and sensitive installations.
The sources said that the information, which was based on the revelation of an arrested suspect, was immediately passed on to Sindh Home Department and other law enforcing agencies for taking precautionary measures.
The US mission in Karachi and vehicles carrying US military cargo for Afghanistan were among the main targets of the terrorist group.
Informed sources said that police had conducted raids on different places in the city but no arrests were made.
“Yes, we are working day and night to arrest some terrorists who recently entered our country from Afghanistan. We are alert and we will get hold of them soon,” said a top-ranking police officer who requested anonymity.
