Senior Al-Qaeda leader Aminul Haq apprehended by CTD during an IBO from Sarai Alamgir town of the Gujrat district of Punjab

LAHORE, July 19 (SABAH): The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Punjab arrested a senior Al-Qaeda leader, Aminul Haq, calling him a close aide of Osama Bin Laden.

The CTD Punjab said it had registered a legal case against Aminul Haq, accusing him of planning sabotage targeting important installations in the province.

“In a breakthrough, senior Al-Qaeda leader, Aminul Haq, a close associate of Osama bin Laden, has been arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department Punjab during an intelligence-based operation,” the CTD said in a statement.

The statement added that Aminul Haq was apprehended from the Sarai Alamgir town of the Gujrat district of Punjab.

“Aminul Haq was a close associate of Osama bin Laden since 1996 and was involved in many terrorist activities,” the statement said, adding that Aminul Haq’s name was included in the United Nations’ list of global terrorists.

“The apprehension of Aminul Haq is an important development in the ongoing efforts to combat terrorism in Pakistan and around the world,” the CTD added.

It further said that the apprehended terrorist was planning a “large-scale terrorism project” in the country.

“The CTD Punjab is diligently pursuing its goal of a safe Punjab and will leave no stone unturned in its efforts to bring terrorists and anti-state elements behind bars,” the statement added.

“The terrorist was apprehended during an intelligence-based operation,” DIG CTD Usman Akram Gonadal said while addressing a press conference, adding that he was taken into custody from Sarai Alamgir, a town in the Gujrat district.

The high-ranking officer said that a case had been registered against Haq, noting that the authorities would probe what was a high-profile terrorist doing in Pakistan.

“He was seen in Afghanistan in 2021. He also has Pakistan’s ID Card, on which Lahore and Haripur’s addresses have been added,” the CTD officer added.

The United Nations Security Council’s website shows that Haq, who was born in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province in 1960, was designated as a terrorist on January 25, 2001.

In 2011, the United States troops carried out a raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and eliminated the global terrorist, who was also involved in the deadly 9/11 attacks.