LAHORE: Pakistan authorities said on Friday that they have arrested a close aide of Osama Bin Laden, the founder of Al-Qaeda and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
Pakistani counter-terror officials said that Amin ul Haq, an Al-Qaeda leader, was arrested in Gujrat city in Punjab province on charges of planning “sabotage activities” and targeting “important installations” within the country.
Punjab’s Counter Terrorism Department hailed the arrest as a significant achievement in Pakistan’s ongoing efforts against terrorism, both domestically and internationally.
A statement from the department underscored Amin Ul-Haq’s designation by the United States, European Union, and United Nations as an associate of Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden.
Speaking at a news conference in Lahore, Usman Akram Gonadal, head of Punjab’s counter-terrorism department, said that Amin al-Haq, a key Al-Qaeda operative, was taken into custody yesterday.
Usman Akram Gonadal said that Amin Ul-Haq had reemerged following the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan, where he had recently traveled in August to revive Al-Qaeda’s organizational efforts.
The Taliban, originally ousted by US-led NATO forces in 2001 for harboring Al-Qaeda operatives responsible for the 9/11 attacks, regained control of Afghanistan in 2021 after two decades of conflict with foreign-backed Afghan forces.
This resurgence of militancy along Pakistan’s border has strained relations between Islamabad and Kabul, with Pakistan accusing Afghan authorities of harboring militant groups targeting Pakistan.
Yesterday, Pakistan had lodged a strong protest with the Afghan interim government over the deadly terrorist attack on Bannu Cantonment on Monday (July 15) by Afghanistan-based Hafiz Gul Bahadur terror group in which eight soldiers were martyred. Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs had summoned Afghanistan deputy head of mission delivered a strong demarche over sheltering terrorists groups involved terrorists’ attacks in Pakistan.
