Eleven days after the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist strikes, Pakistani authorities reportedly arrested Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a top Lashkar-e-Tayyeba operative, following a raid on a Lashkar front organisation outside Muzaffarabad in PoK on Sunday.
Indian investigators have directly implicated Lakhvi as one of the plotters of 26/11. Nineteen other Lashkar men were caught in the raid, which the Dawn newspaper described as a “quiet crackdown” on the group, banned by Pakistan in 2002, but which has maintained a solid presence in the country.
“I saw an army helicopter hovering over the area and around 5 pm I heard two or three loud explosions,” a woman who lives in the area told the newspaper. Another person said, “The helicopter … may have airlifted people detained or injured during the operation.” There were unconfirmed reports of an exchange of fire. Pakistan said it would investigate
There was no official statement from Islamabad on the “arrest”. Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Lashkar front, condemned the attack on his group, which has been held responsible for the Mumbai terror attack.