Security forces have arrested a nephew of a top al Qaeda operative and several other foreigners blamed for a series of attacks, including an assassination attempt on Corps Commander Karachi Lieutenant General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said on Sunday.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said 13 people had been arrested including some Pakistanis.
"I am confident the arrests will help in smashing terror network," he said.
The forces arrested an al-Qaeda operative who is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, and had a one-million-dollar reward on his head, the Interior Minister said. The minister identified the man as Musabir Urumchi.
"Our security forces have arrested an eight-member gang of foreign al-Qaeda operatives for their involvement in acts of terrorism in Pakistan, including Thursday's attack on the Corps Commander's convoy in Karachi," Hayat told AFP.
"These militants are of Central Asian origin and their ring leader was Attaullah," the Interior Minister said.
The ringleader who goes by one name is an Uzbek national, he said.
The group was trained in Shakai in the tribal region of South Waziristan, he said. "The arrest of the gang is a phenomenal breakthrough for us."
Faisal Hayat did not disclose circumstances under which the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was arrested nor did he specify the location.
He said eight of the arrested called themselves the Jandalla group.
"Our investigations have established that this eight-member gang was involved in most acts of terrorism in Karachi and Quetta," he said.
The detained militants were all trained in Shakai and Wana in South Waziristan, Hayat said.
"The arrest is a major breakthrough for us. This is breaking the back of al-Qaeda linked network in Pakistan".
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