Punjab's banned outfits in contact with Uzbek militants

Banned militant organisations in Punjab province have contacts with Uzbek militants who charge $40,000 for carrying out terrorist attacks in Pakistan, a federal minister told the National Assembly on Tuesday. During Tuesday’s session, Federal Minister Sheikh Waqas Akram told the assembly that the Uzbek militants were in contact with the banned outfits in Punjab, adding that the members of these banned organisations could be seen wearing shirts of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). “These (Uzbek) militants demand a payment of US$40,000 to perform terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil,” he told the assembly. Akram, who belongs to ruling coalition partner the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), said Interior Minister Rehman Malik should stop “spinning tales” and take definitive action against these banned militant outfits. The minister’s disclosure comes after a brazen attack on Peshawar’s Bacha Khan Airport and military airbase on Saturday by militants said to be foreigners of Dagestan and Uzbek origins. Uzbek militants are known to corroborate with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in battles against the Pakistani security forces, which include an attack on Bannu jail conducted to release Taliban inmates and the high-profile prisoner Adnan Rashid. NA Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi chaired Tuesday’s assembly session held here in Islamabad.