ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 13 (UPI) -- Pakistani authorities captured nearly 200 militants with alleged ties to al-Qaida in what opponents say is a sign of intervention by foreign parties.
Security officials in the Pakistani province of Punjab snared 178 alleged members of the terrorist groups Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, both of which have suspected ties to al-Qaida. Members of the militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba weren't arrested during the raids, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Islamabad has ramped up rhetoric regarding regional militants as terrorist attacks escalate across the country. The Taliban claimed responsibility for a Friday bombing in a market in Pakistan that killed more than 100 people.
Moderate Muslim groups said the effort by Islamabad to crack down on al-Qaida affiliates in Pakistan is a step in the right direction in a country plagued by terrorism.
Allama Ahmad Ludhianvi, who heads a group security officials believe is a Sipah-e-Sahaba front, complained, however, that the arrests were made "at the behest of foreign forces," the Journal adds.
The arrests coincided with a visit to Pakistan by U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, Washington's new commander for the war effort in Afghanistan.
"Recent events demonstrate both the common threat posed to Pakistan and Afghanistan by insurgents and the efforts that the Pakistan military are making to counter this threat," the general said during his visit.
