Gujrat (Pakistan): Wanted Al-Qaeda top leader from Gujrat city has been taken into custody by Pakistan’s Punjab province’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in a significant operation.
Amin ul Haq, a top Al-Qaeda leader close to Osama Bin Laden, was apprehended as security forces stepped up their continuing campaign against members of banned organisations, such as the al-Qaeda and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
According to currently accessible information, Pakistan’s recently initiated military operation, “Azm-e-Istehkam,” served as the umbrella operation for the Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO).
Haq is an Afghan who was residing in Pakistan using fictitious documentation.
The arrest of Amin ul Haq, a figure listed as a global terrorist, is a significant development in the global war on terror. His role in Al-Qaeda and his involvement in the re-organisation of the banned terror outfit make his apprehension a major victory in the fight against terrorism, not just for Pakistan but for the international community as well, said CTD DIG Usman Gondal.
Since 1996, Haq had maintained a close relationship with Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, and was in charge of his security when he was killed by US forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011.
In January 2001, Haq—who was regarded as one of the extremist group’s best combatants and engaged in several terrorist acts—was listed as a worldwide terrorist.
Haq also visited Afghanistan after the NATO forces withdrew from there.
Gondal provided additional information, revealing that Haq was residing in Pakistan using a false name. Upon his detention, the CTD officials claimed they discovered a forged Pakistani National Identity Card with addresses from Lahore, Punjab, and Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
To eradicate terrorist trails throughout the nation, Pakistan recently initiated Operation Azm-e-Istehkam Pakistan, which targets terrorist organisations and specified individuals. The most recent arrest demonstrates the new approach of coordinated intelligence-based operations with all pertinent law enforcement agencies and represents a major shift in the ongoing fight against terrorism.
Pakistan has also expressed serious concerns regarding the support that the Afghan Taliban provide to terror groups such as the TTP and its affiliates, as well as to Al-Qaeda, its parent organisation.
This was in response to the TTP and its affiliate groups’ recent surge in terror attacks, which included the recent attack on the Bannu cantonment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These attacks have raised serious concerns about the security situation in the region and the need for immediate and coordinated action against these terror groups.
The Afghan Taliban’s offer to discuss a peace agreement with the TTP has been rejected by Pakistan. This offer, which comes in the context of the ongoing peace talks in Afghanistan, has been viewed with suspicion by Pakistan, especially given the Taliban’s continued support to terror groups that are hostile to Pakistan. The latter has even threatened to start counterterrorism operations inside Afghanistan if the Taliban continue to assist, harbour, and finance these groups.
