Pakistan’s counterterrorism police said Monday they arrested nearly two dozen members of the outlawed militant group, the Pakistani Taliban, which has been behind several deadly attacks across the country.
Acting on intelligence information, the arrests were made in the eastern Punjab province over the past two weeks, the provincial Counterterrorism Department said in a statement.
The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, is a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.
The statement also said that Mohammad Arshad, an alleged chief commander of the banned Baluch Nationalist Army which mostly operates in southwestern Baluchistan province, was arrested.
Baluchistan has been a scene of low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists for more than two decades. They initially wanted a bigger share of the provincial resources, but later initiated an insurgency for independence. TTP and other domestic militant groups also operate in the province.