Woman held in Lahore for ties with IS 'not terrorist': Brother

Suspected female militant Naureen Leghari who was arrested in a military operation in Lahore is not associated with any terrorist organisation, her brother claimed on Monday.

Naureen's brother Afzal Leghari told Geo News that his sister was kidnapped on February 10 and was "not associated with any terrorist outfit".

"We refuted her ties with any [terrorist] organisation in the past, and we refute them again," Afzal said. "We stand by our statement that Naureen was kidnapped."

"We want the truth to be disclosed so we [Naureen's family] can be aware of the real situation," he said.

IS militant Ali Tariq was killed and Naureen was arrested when army personnel on Saturday foiled a "major terror plan" for Easter in Lahore.

According to Punjab Counter Terrorism Department, Naureen had joined the IS and received training in Syria for using weapons before she came back to Lahore a week ago.

"We have mixed feelings about the news. If our sister is in police custody, we have found her but, God forbid, an element of association with a terrorist outfit is included in the case," he said.

Afzal on Sunday confirmed that the woman in police custody was his sister Naureen who had gone missing from Hyderabad, in Sindh.

He said she had left home for college and had been missing until law enforcement personnel informed her father over phone about her arrest.

Meanwhile, Hyderabad police said she was inspired by the ideology of the IS group and went to join them on her own.

According to the police, Naureen and Ali had tied the knot after coming into contact with each other on Facebook.

The couple was helped by absconding militant Azeem alias Abbu Fauji, who got them a rented house in Lahore.

Naureen had also shared her radical religious views on social media. A video showed that she had left for Lahore on February 10 and said on social media that she had reached the land of Khilafat.

Sindh police chief A.D. Khowaja told Dawn News: "We are in touch with Punjab police to get an official word from them and then we will share facts with the media. I have just spoken to Hyderabad range DIG Khadim Rind in this regard.

The law enforcement agencies have also arrested four people suspected of being linked with the IS network in Lahore.

--IANS

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