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Insurgents cause for concern in Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Nearly 400 insurgents held in Pakistani prisons could be released prompting a heightened state of alert, intelligence sources revealed.

Pakistani intelligence officials sent a warning to the federal government advising them to be on alert for retaliatory strikes if authorities release 390 suspected terrorists, sources told the Pakistani newspaper the Daily Times.

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Members of the militant groups Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Muhammad were among the hundreds of prisoners set for imminent release.

Authorities said the suspects could be released because their detention extended beyond the time allotted for those held without formal arrest in a case, the newspaper said.

Sipah-e-Sahaba was implicated in the assassination of a key political leader in Karachi in early August, prompting authorities to issue shoot-to-kill orders after violence in the wake of the slaying left as many as 90 people dead.

Investigators said they rounded up several members of LeJ for their alleged role to the plot, though the Times didn't indicate if those slated for release were linked to the Karachi violence.

Seth Jones, a co-author of a report on Pakistani militants for the think tank Rand, said groups like these pose a significant threat to the United States and its allies.

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Jones in a June report said groups like JAM "remain entrenched in Pakistan and pose a grave threat to the state and the region."

Meanwhile, authorities worry that the preoccupation with the flood response in Pakistan could give insurgents an opportunity to launch a new campaign of violence.

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