In a crackdown by security forces in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), senior Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander and suspected Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi was arrested along with at least eight other members of the group after a gun battle.
A total of 15 members of the LeT and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawah were arrested following the raid conducted by Pakistani forces yesterday in a camp near Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK, Geo News channel reported.
The arrests took place as international pressure mounted on Pakistan to take action against the banned LeT, seen as the prime suspect in the deadly Mumbai siege that left 183 persons dead.
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has pressed Pakistan to act quickly.
The operation was carried out by the army and other security forces backed by helicopters. The troops exchanged fire with the militants for almost three hours. Some of the militants were injured.
There was no official word on the arrests from the Pakistan government or the military. The military spokesman could not be reached for comments.
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But LeT founder Hafiz Saeed slammed the raid in the camp operated by his charity saying "the operation against jihadi organisations in Pakistani Kashmir is unwarranted and we strongly condemn it".
Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone terrorist captured alive by Indian authorities after the Mumbai attacks, had named Lakhwi as one of the LeT commanders who had planned the strike.
The security forces sealed a large LeT complex and a madrassa affiliated to the organisation at Shawai Nullah, five kms north-west of Muzaffarabad.