Eliminate LeJ or we will, Malik tells Punjab govt

Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Wednesday blamed the Punjab government for harboring Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militants and said he had directed the Punjab government to take stern action against the outlawed outfit. Giving a speech in the Senate, the interior minister said if the provincial government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would not take action against the militants, he would himself raid the hideouts. “The central headquarters of Jhangvi is in Punjab while their sub-headquarters are in Karachi,” he said, adding that almost 30 terrorists belonging to LeJ, Jaish Muhammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba were arrested in Karachi. He stayed firm on his earlier statement of warning people of Karachi of more violence in the city and said the miscreants were planning to disrupt peace in the metropolis. Responding to question on the Quetta attack, he said the attacks were not carried out by the Taliban, instead they were carried out after a call from Switzerland. “Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Balochistan Liberation Army are united and destabilising the province,” he added Malik added that his ministry had sent three terror alerts to the provincial government before the Kirani Road attack. “The first alert was issued on January 27, second on February 1 and the third on February 5,” Malik added.