ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday announced the arrest of “several individuals” from an outlawed militant group who are believed to be linked to a four-day assault on an Indian air base earlier this month that killed seven Indian soldiers.

The government announced the arrests in a statement after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif presided over a meeting to discuss security issues. The meeting was also attended by Pakistan Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif, the country’s intelligence chief and other security officials.

The statement said an investigation into the incident has made “considerable progress,” leading to the arrest of several individuals from the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group. All six militants who took part in the attack were killed by Indian forces.

India has long accused Pakistan of turning a blind eye to militants who have staged cross-border attacks and battled Indian forces in the disputed Kashmir region.

Pakistan was quick to condemn the air base attack, and Sharif spoke to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, expressing condolences and saying Pakistan would investigate any information that India provides.

But the attack raised concerns over peace talks planned for Friday between the two longtime regional rivals.

15 dead in attack on polio center

A suicide attack on a polio vaccination center in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday killed 15 people, mainly police who had gathered to escort health workers, who have been repeatedly targeted in recent years by militants, officials said.

The bombing of the polio center on the outskirts of Quetta killed 13 police, a soldier and a civilian, said Shahzada Farhat, a police spokesman in the city. Another 23 people were wounded.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives among the police officers, said provincial home minister Sarfraz Bugti. “We’re in a war zone,” he added.

The bombing happened outside the polio center shortly before vaccination teams were due to be dispatched to local neighborhoods as part of a three-day immunization campaign, said Syed Imtiaz Shah, the local police chief.

Hours after the attack, Ahmad Marwat, who described himself as a spokesman for Jundullah, or Army of God, a little-known militant group, claimed responsibility without explaining why the center was targeted. He warned of more attacks on polio teams in the future.

Polio workers in Pakistan, and their police escorts, have been targeted in recent years by militants who accuse them of working as spies for the United States.

The attacks intensified after a Pakistani doctor was arrested on charges of running a fake hepatitis vaccination campaign in the city of Abbottabad as a cover for a CIA-backed effort to obtain DNA samples from Osama Bin Laden ahead of the 2011 US raid that killed him.

Pakistan is one of three countries in the world where polio is endemic, and the attacks have hindered vaccination campaigns. Some Pakistanis are also suspicious about the vaccinations, fearing it will sterilize their children.

Shah, the police chief, said the security forces were the primary target of Wednesday’s attack. He spoke to reporters from the scene, which was strewn with blood and debris, as rescuers took the wounded to hospitals.