Pakistan arrests 8 al-Qaeda members for recent rocket attempts: minister

Pakistani security agencies have arrested eight terrorists who were involved in planting rockets in Rawalpindi and Islamabad last week, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said Friday.

Addressing a news conference the minister said all eight were Pakistanis, but there were indications that they were members of al-Qaeda and had received training in Afghanistan.

The culprits were arrested from different parts of the country and a large quantity of explosive material and ammunition was recovered from their possession, he said.

The minister said the investigation was continuing and more arrests were expected.

He said mobile phones attached to the rockets led to the arrest of the terrorist group.

According to the minister, four rockets were planted in Ayub Park in Rawalpindi while in Islamabad two rockets were found near the underconstruction building of National Arts Council and another two in the vicinity of Shakarparian hill.

The intelligence agencies decoded the mobile phones and traced the phone numbers of the culprits, he said.

The minister said only one out of eight rockets exploded and that was in Ayub Park, while the rest were defused by the law enforcing agencies.

He said the rockets were not aimed at any specific target and the motive was to create a law and order situation and spread chaos and sense of insecurity in the twin cities.

Source: Xinhua