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Pakistan arrests more than 130 militants

K J M Varma in Islamabad

Pakistan has arrested more than 130 militants, including leaders of Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, an interior ministry official said on Friday.

"The crackdown which started last night is still going on," Javed Iqbal Cheema said.

He said key leaders of LeT and JeM were among those detained, but no names were immediately available.

Pakistan has reportedly intensified its crackdown on Islamic terrorist outfits in the jihadi heartland of Punjab province taking 80 of them in custody.

The police on Thursday had arrested the militants after it was provided a list of some 300 activists belonging to different militant groups in Punjab's capital, Lahore and another list of over 500 men in other parts of the province, reports said.

The Sunni extremist Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan said police rounded up more than 200 of its supporters in overnight sweeps, while a Shiite radical group Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan said 100 of its members were detained.

The police said they had warrants to arrest a total of 200 people, including members of some militant outfits operating in Kashmir.

"We have arrested people from both Sunni and Shiite factions," Multan police chief Ahmed Reza said.

A spokesman for LeT Yahya Mujahid was quoted by Dawn as claiming that only one member of his group was picked up on Thursday.

The crackdown which began almost a week ago following the arrests of JeM chief Masood Azhar and former LeT leader Hafeez Saeed was largely carried out in Sindh province where over 150 militants have reportedly been arrested.

India has charged both LeT and JeM with the December 13 attack on Parliament.

Besides being home to large number of militants, Punjab also houses the headquarters of LeT at Muridke near Lahore, while JeM is headquartered in Bahawalpur.

Both groups now claim to have shifted their offices to Muzafarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

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