Sharifs and Imran under threat from Taliban: Report

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is biding its time to target former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif, cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan and their families, a media report said today.

"We have received multiple intelligence reports, submitted by the premier intelligence agency, that the TTP may attack the family members of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif," a senior Interior Ministry official was quoted as saying by The News.

Following the intelligence reports, the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) dispatched a formal threat letter to the police and law enforcement agencies, the paper said.

The reports were received on April 1 and the same day an alert was issued to the departments concerned for taking preventive steps, the paper added.

It said a separate intelligence report was also received stating that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan faced a serious threat to his life.

Citing its source, the paper said the information about the threat had also been communicated to Imran Khan and his associates on the directions of Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

The intelligence report was received a couple of days before Imran Khan's visit to Pind Daden Khan, Jhelum district, on March 14, the source said.

Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, the party's central spokesman and a close associate of Imran Khan, confirmed the threat.

"Yes, we were conveyed about the threat officially," Fawad was quoted as saying by the paper.

Citing the source, it said that when Imran Khan was addressing party workers in Pind Daden Khan, a phone call had advised him to avoid public appearance. The call was also made to his party leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry.

Last year on December 27, exactly 10 years after the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a letter written by the ISI to the interior ministry on December 19, 2007 surfaced in a media report in which it was claimed by the agency that al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had planned her assassination.

The al-Qaeda had claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Bhutto.