Sweep for militants nets Pakistan 1,300

LAHORE, Pakistan — About 1,300 suspected militants were arrested in a sweep of hideouts in Pakistan’s most populous province, police said Friday.

The roughly two-week operation in Punjab comes despite the provincial law minister’s defense of some groups designated as terrorist organizations and banned by Pakistan but resurrected under new names.

That minister, Rana Sanaullah, also embraced some sectarian leaders whose groups have been accused of fomenting violence against minority Islamic sects, raising questions about his commitment to ridding Punjab of militants.

Two police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operations, said another 36 militants died in shootouts with police and in paramilitary operations since the sweep began last month.

In an interview, however, Sanaullah questioned the label of terrorist for anti-Indian militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has resurfaced as Jamaat ud Daawa.

Last month, Pakistan placed under house arrest Hafiz Saeed, a declared terrorist with a U.S.-imposed $10 million bounty on his head. Yet Sanaullah questioned allegations against Saeed, who is connected mostly to militant attacks in Indian-held Kashmir, a Himalayan region whose ownership is contested by both Pakistan and India and claimed by both in its entirety.

“They are related to Kashmir. They feel Indian brutality in Kashmir is unacceptable,” Sanaullah said of Saeed and his followers.

Saeed is among India’s most wanted and is accused of masterminding attacks inside India and Indian-held Kashmir.