LAHORE: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Punjab said on Friday that law enforcers have arrested Amin al-Haq – a close associate of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.
“The terrorist was apprehended during an intelligence operation,” DIG CTD Usman Akram Gonadal said, adding that he was taken into custody from Sarai Alamgir, a town in Gujrat district.
The CTD, associated with bin Laden since 1996, noted that Haq was among the extremist group’s leading fighters and that he was involved in several terrorist activities.
Haq – responsible for coordinating security for the late al-Qaeda chief – has also been designated a terrorist by the United Nations.
A senior officer said a case had been registered against Haq and noted that authorities would investigate what the high-profile terrorist was doing in Pakistan.
“He was seen in Afghanistan in 2021. He also has a Pakistani identity card with the addresses of Lahore and Haripur added,” the CTD officer added.
The United Nations Security Council website shows that Haq, who was born in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province in 1960, was designated a terrorist on January 25, 2001.
In 2011, United States troops raided bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing the global terrorist who was also involved in the deadly 9/11 attacks.
