Pakistan’s counterterrorism police stated Monday they arrested almost two dozen members of the outlawed militant group, the Pakistani Taliban, which has been behind a number of lethal assaults throughout the nation.

Acting on intelligence info, the arrests had been made within the japanese Punjab province over the previous two weeks, the provincial Counterterrorism Department stated in a press release.

The Pakistani Taliban, often known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, is a separate group however allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized energy in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops had been within the remaining levels of their pullout from the nation after 20 years of struggle.

The assertion additionally stated that Mohammad Arshad, an alleged chief commander of the banned Baluch Nationalist Army which largely operates in southwestern Baluchistan province, was arrested.

Baluchistan has been a scene of low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists for greater than twenty years. They initially wished an even bigger share of the provincial assets, however later initiated an insurgency for independence. TTP and different home militant teams additionally function within the province.