Pakistan’s Army on Saturday took over an operation to dislodge a criminal gang holding 24 hostages on its island hideout in the prosperous Province of Punjab, the military’s spokesman said.
The security operation involving more than 1,600 security forces is now in its eleventh day and is an unprecedented use of force by the military in Punjab, which is the political power base of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The head of the Army’s publicity wing, General Asim Bajwa, announced that the army had been officially deployed to flush gangsters from the 10 km-long island in the centre of the Indus River.
“Army troops deployed. Take over charge of op,” Gen. Bajwa said in a tweet. “Cordon reinforced, Police&Rangers already in op will cont to participate under Army.”
On Friday, the Punjab Law Minister had given the gang 48 hours to surrender or “be wiped out".
Pakistani TV stations reported early on Saturday that the head of the gang, Ghulam Rasool, also known as Chotu, a long-time criminal active in the border areas of the Provinces of Punjab and Sindh, had surrendered.
But the reports could not be independently confirmed and the Army’s latest announcement indicated that the siege was ongoing in the afternoon.
At least six police officials have been killed in the battle for the island, launched in a sweeping crackdown after a Taliban suicide bombing killed 72 people in Lahore last month. — Reuters
