Explosives for Quetta blast came from Lahore: Rehman Malik

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior, Rehman Malik Wednesday said he still stood by his word in connection with the security threats to Quetta, Karachi and Peshawar and that the Balochistan government had been issued three alerts on possible acts of terrorism.

Speaking during the Senate session, Rehman Malik said that he, as a practice, shares intelligence reports with the provincial administrations and that it is them who are responsible to maintain law and order in their respective provinces.

He said the Punjab province had taken effective actions on his information and pre-empted many crimes. "I ask the Parliament to pass an anti-terrorism bill," he asserted.

The Interior Minister said strong evidence is available with the authorities that indicates that there exists a nexus between Al-Qaeda, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

"I still maintain what I said earlier that terrorist acts will be executed in Quetta, Karachi and Peshawar," Malik argued.

He said the explosives were transported from Lahore to Quetta to carry out the massacre there, underscoring a need for taking action against Malik Ishaq and his men. Four terrorists were killed in a raid on a hideout of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's Amir, he added.

Rehman Malik informed the house that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's headquarter was in Punjab and a sub-headquarter in Karachi.

He said he did not believe the Quetta incident was a result of an intelligence failure. The personnel of intelligence agencies were rendering sacrifices of their lives, he added.

Malik said the IG FC had been ordered declare Saryab Road a 'Red Zone'.