Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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August 24, 2009

Pakistani Police: 13 Militants Arrested, Terror Plots Foiled
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=262ED7F:A6F02AD83191E1608DB31C6A732BB51D2E7CA1C1B166B639&
 
Police say militants seized in Karachi are members of banned
al-Qaida-linked Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi 
Pakistani police say they thwarted multiple terror plots by arresting 13
militants with links to al-Qaida or the Taliban during raids in southern
and eastern Pakistan. Pakistani police officers escort detained
militants, faces covered with cloths, to produce them into Anti
Terrorism Court in Karachi, Pakistan, 24 Aug 2009Police said Monday they
seized seven men, suicide vests and explosives during a raid in the
southern city of Karachi. Authorities said the men belong to the banned
al-Qaida-linked Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The group has
previously been suspected of plotting to assassinate government
officials, as well as masterminding last year's bombing of the Marriott
Hotel in Islamabad and the bombing of a Shi'ite mosque in 2003. And
police in eastern Pakistan say they captured six suspected Taliban
militants in Punjab province. Senior police officer Usman Anwar says the
suspected militants had planned to attack foreign targets and places of
worship. Authorities in both cases say the arrests foiled militants'
plans to stage terror attacks. In other news, Pakistan's Interior
Minister Rehman Malik says the Taliban may have killed relatives of
Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, on suspicion that they
leaked information about the wanted militant's whereabouts. Malik says
intelligence reports indicate that Pakistan's Taliban movement,
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, kidnapped and killed Mehsud's father-in-law
and other family members. U.S. and Pakistani officials say they believe
Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a U.S. drone attack on August 5. But
Taliban spokesmen have repeatedly denied his death. In related news, a
commander of the Pakistani Taliban announced Saturday that the militant
group has chosen Hakimullah Mehsud, 28, as its new leader. The
commander, Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, said a Taliban council appointed a new
leader because Baitullah Mehsud is too sick to carry out his duties.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.


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