ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities on Friday impounded a truck carrying a huge arms cache coming from Afghanistan via Torkham border, an anti-narcotics official said on Sunday.
The illicit crossing over of arms, drugs and other illegal materials at Torkham, the major border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, is not uncommon.
In January this year, hundreds of weapons were seized concealed inside a coal truck entering Pakistan from Afghanistan. In June last year, Afghan forces seized a huge bomb-making cache in the back of a vegetable truck crossing over from Pakistan.
“While passing through the transit scanners, the truck coming from Afghanistan was found suspicious on Friday. A thorough search of the truck led the customs department, Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and other security officials to recover 207 weapons of different brands including Tomahawk and Maverick guns with Turkish made seals,” Raffaqat Hussain, a sub-inspector of the ANF, told Arab News at the busy Pak-Afghan Torkham border in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
However, the arms smugglers inside the truck, including the driver of the vehicle, managed to flee after the truck was seized. A passport belonging to the driver was found on the dashboard of the vehicle, Hussain said. He added that the weapons were masterfully concealed inside the truck’s hidden cavities.
KP’s provincial Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai told Arab News that his government had ‘zero tolerance’ for banned items including arms and narcotics to and from Afghanistan.
“Yes, a truck carrying arms from Afghanistan has been impounded but investigations are in initial process and its findings cannot be made public at this point,” Yousafzai said.
“The officials concerned suspect an organized group behind the botched arms’ smuggling attempt. A looming threat of terror has been foiled but investigations are underway to reach to the depth of the issue,” he added.
Authorities said that a case had been lodged and all concerned departments from police to Khasadar and counter-terrorism forces, were involved in the investigation.
Yousafzai said Pakistan and Afghanistan shared a long porous border but provincial authorities had intensified efforts to discourage illegal business and smuggling along the border areas.
In July this year, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed all concerned departments to initiate a countrywide crackdown on smuggling, in an Islamabad meeting.
Also in that meeting, it was unanimously decided that a committee would be formed, to be headed by the interior minister, to systemize transit trade and curb smuggling at Pak-Afghan and Pak-Iran border areas.
Pakistan foils terror bid, seizes arms smuggled from Afghanistan
https://arab.news/rj7en
Pakistan foils terror bid, seizes arms smuggled from Afghanistan
- KP information minister says authorities suspect an organized group behind the smuggling
- 207 weapons of different brands were concealed in a truck crossing Torkham border to enter Pakistan
Curfew extended in Gilgit-Baltistan, probe ordered after deadly Khamenei protests
- At least 15 people were killed in clashes with law enforcement agencies over the weekend in Gilgit-Baltistan
- Government also announces a de-weaponization campaign, crackdown on hate speech and cybercrime in region
ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region on Tuesday extended a curfew in Gilgit district and ordered a judicial probe into violent protests over the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes last week, an official said.
At least 15 people were killed in clashes with law enforcement agencies over the weekend in GB, where protesters torched and vandalized several buildings, including United Nations regional offices, an army-run school, software technology park and a local charity building.
The violence prompted regional authorities to impose curfew in Gilgit and Skardu districts on March 2-4 as officials urged people to stay indoors and cooperate with law enforcers, amid widespread anger in Pakistan, particularly among members of the Shiite minority, over Khamenei’s killing.
On Tuesday, the GB government convened to review the situation and announced the extension of curfew in Gilgit among a number of security measures as well as ordered the establishment of a judicial commission to investigate the weekend violence in the region.
“The government has made it clear that the law will strictly take its course against elements involved in vandalism at government institutions, private properties and incidents of vandalism in Gilgit and Skardu and no kind of mischief will be tolerated,” Shabbir Mir, a GB government spokesperson, said in a statement.
“In view of the security situation, curfew will remain in force in Gilgit, while the decision to extend the curfew in Skardu will be taken keeping the ground realities and the changing situation in view.”
The statement did not specify how long the curfew will remain in place in Gilgit.
Besides the formation of the judicial commission to investigate the violent clashes, the government also decided to launch a large-scale de-weaponization campaign in the entire Gilgit district, for which relevant institutions have been directed to immediately complete all necessary arrangements, according to Mir.
In addition, a crackdown has been ordered on hate speech, spread of fake news and cybercrime.
“The aim of these decisions is to ensure the rule of law, protect the lives and property of citizens and crack down on miscreants,” he said. “Approval has also been given to immediately survey the affected infrastructure and start their restoration work on priority basis.”
Demonstrators in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi also stormed the US Consulate on Sunday, smashing windows and attempting to burn the building. Police responded with batons, tear gas, and gunfire, leaving 10 people dead and more than 50 injured.
Pakistani authorities have since beefed up security at US diplomatic missions across the country, including around the US consulate building in Peshawar, to avoid any further violence.
