Off the wire
• Spotlight: One year later, U.S. city of Ferguson still hotbed of racial tension  • China donates equipment to Uganda for peacekeeping mission in Somalia  • Libyan spokesman denies PM's resignation  • Protesters hold day of action against Kiwi involvement in TPP trade deal  • British unempoyment rate stands at 5.6 pct in Q2: ONS  • Syrian air strikes kill 31 in rebel-held Damascus countryside  • Russian police detain 13 for defrauding Chinese company of 1 mln USD  • 2nd LD-Writethru-China Focus: Pressure remains on Chinese economy as indicators fall short of expectations  • High-wire daredevil Adili plans Taiwan Strait walk stunt  • China to upgrade cash receiving machines for new bank note  
You are here: 　 Home

Pakistani security forces foil bid to sabotage Independence Day celebrations

Xinhua, August 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

Security forces in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi have foiled a bid to sabotage the forthcoming August 14th Independence Day celebrations by arresting five militants, an army statement said Wednesday.

Inter-Services Public Relations, the mouthpiece of Pakistani army, said in the statement that the forces have busted a foreign sponsored gang, who had been planning to target the Independence Day celebration in Karachi for quite some time and had also prepared an explosive laden vehicle and a motorbike for this purpose.

The arrested militants confessed during the interrogation that they arranged the vehicles from Karachi and planted explosive materials on them.

They said that they were waiting for suicide bombers who had to arrive from Afghanistan, and a Karachi-based Taliban chief from northwest Swat district is also currently visiting Afghanistan for the same purpose.

The arrested militants include some high value targets including Tehrik-i-Taliban Swat chapter's deputy chief.

After a tip-off, the security agencies had been monitoring the activities of the group for many weeks. The security forces also launched simultaneous operations in Karachi and neighboring Hyderabad city on August 9th to arrest culprits.

The forces have taken the explosive laden Hi-Roof and the motorbike into their custody. Endi