Pakistan detains 10,616 suspects after school attack

Security forces in Pakistan have detained 10,616 suspects on different charges after the savage Taliban attack on an army-run school last December, officials said Friday.

The attack killed over 140 students and staff of the Army Public School in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif launched a National Action Plan (NAP) with the consensus of all political parties to deal effectively with terrorism and violent extremism.

A report presented to the prime minister said the law enforcement agencies have conducted 14,886 search operations in all parts of the country since the implementation of the NAP, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the report, the security agencies conducted 9,413 operations in the country's biggest Punjab province while 2,724 operations were conducted in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which is mainly affected by terrorism.

The forces carried out 1,577 raids in southern Sindh province, 336 in capital Islamabad, 39 in southwestern Balochistan province, 720 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, 56 in the tribal regions, and 21 in northern areas of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Among those arrested, 1,934 are from Punjab, 1,533 from Sindh, 6,038 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 460 from Balochistan, 505 from Islamabad, seven from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, 129 from tribal areas and 10 from Gilgit-Baltistan.

Over misuse of loudspeakers, the security agencies arrested 2,035 people, including 1,806 in Punjab, 169 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one in Balochistan and 59 in Islamabad. A total of 1,256 equipment were confiscated for being misused.

In total, 540 cases have been registered for spreading hate speech and material including 455 in Punjab, 34 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four in Balochistan, 46 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and one in Gilgit-Baltistan. The law enforcement agencies also arrested 405 people and sealed 41 shops on the same charges.

According to the data, around 3,416 Afghan refugees have been deported, including 2,844 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 195 from Balochistan, one in Islamabad and 376 from tribal areas.

The Federal Investigation Agency has registered 18 cases for money transfer through non-banking channels. It has arrested 24 people and recovered Pakistani Rs.71.5 million rupees ($715,000) illegally transferred to Pakistan.

Three cases have also been registered for suspicious transactions and as many people were also arrested. The agency also registered five money-laundering cases and registered as many people on the charges.