Pakistan police arrest three with 100kg of explosives

ISLAMABAD - Agence France-Presse

Pakistani police have arrested three men and seized 100 kilograms of explosives in a raid in the capital Islamabad, officers said Tuesday, following two deadly Taliban attacks on military targets.
 
The swoop on Monday at a house in Tarnol, in the city's southwest, also recovered fuses, detonators, wires and other bomb-making material, police said.
 
News of the raid came as jets and helicopters bombarded suspected militant positions in Pakistan's lawless tribal districts in retaliation for two major Taliban attacks targeting security forces.
 
At least 25 people have been killed in the air strikes, according to officials.
 
"They had several bags filled with explosives. They had wires and a complete system which can detonate the explosive," a police official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
 
"All three men belong to the tribal areas." Rab Nawaz, the officer investigating the case, confirmed the arrests and recovery of the explosives and told AFP that a case has been registered against the three accused. "They had rented a house and had everything they needed to detonate explosives," Nawaz said.
 
A suicide attack on Monday in a market next to Pakistan's military headquarters killed 13 people including eight soldiers and three children.
 
And on Sunday, a vehicle-borne suicide bomb in the restive northwestern city of Bannu killed 26 people, the deadliest attack on Pakistan's military in several years.
 
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has waged a bloody campaign against the state in recent years, carrying out a number of bomb and gun attacks.
 
But attacks in the heavily-secured capital are rare.