ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry on Wednesday said that an arms-supply network operating for the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) was captured during an intelligence-based operation.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Chaudhry said that security forces have arrested a man for supplying illegal weapons to the action committee in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
“A man identified as Zia, a resident of AJK, has been operating this illegal network for around 8 to 10 years and has been supplying weapons directly to people associated with JAAC for the past two years,” the minister added.
The minister also said that the network extended beyond arms trafficking and was involved in smuggling vehicles, petrol and narcotics.
He further stated that during the investigation and information obtained from his mobile phone, officials found that he was in contact with a person named Majid, an aide of the banned committee’s core member, Sardar Aman.
“Zia was also in contact with a person identified as Zarshad, who was based in Afghanistan and supplied illegally acquired weapons to Pakistan.”
Talal further claimed that the weapons were transported from Afghanistan to Bara in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and subsequently moved to AJK through local facilitators, identified as Akbar, a government employee, who used the cover of his institution to transport weapons.
The minister added that Afghanistan was being used as a super-proxy to spread unrest in Pakistan, saying that authorities conducted IBOs to dismantle a terrorist network involved in funding and supporting a proscribed JAAC.
He also played various videos and audio recordings that exposed this terror-crime network involved in facilitating terrorism in Pakistan.
Talal said that around 200 IBOs were conducted across the country every day to contain the threat of terrorism, and the authorities had found that individuals based in Afghanistan were involved in supplying weapons to Pakistan.
Talking about the banning action committee, Talal Chaudhry further reiterated that the organisation was declared proscribed with utmost responsibility, not on political grounds, but in light of solid evidence and ongoing investigations.
“The videos and facts emerging on social media make it clear that the state is taking action in accordance with the law against elements involved in blocking roads, direct firing on forces, and violent acts.”
Talal Chaudhry, raising questions about the prohibited Action Committee, asked why, after 37 of 38 demands were accepted and implementation began, they suddenly announced a long march.
“The incident of violence during the first phase of the Mirpur election was not a coincidence, but a whole conspiracy and campaign was going on for two years behind it,” he added.
