Zeenews Bureau
Islamabad: A plot to attack the Parliament was foiled by the police in Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday.
The terrorists had planned to attack the Parliament while
President Asif Ali Zardari was addressing a joint session of the
National Assembly and Senate on March 17.
"I commend the Islamabad police, they have foiled a plot to attack the Parliament during President's address to the joint session," Rehman Malik told reporters.
Malik further informed that several terrorists and a government employee have been arrested for plotting to attack
the Parliament.
The terrorists belonged to a main tribal town Miranshah in North Waziristan, though it was not revealed if they were from a specific militant group.
Rehman Malik chaired a meeting today during which he reviewed the security situation in wake of the foiled terror plot.
He said that the arrested government official belonged to the Finance Ministry but he was a very low-level employee and that he was arrested for extending assistance to the terrorists.
Malik didn't reveal much about the plot as there was no word from him on either the details of the plot, or the number of terrorists arrested. Even the identity of the arrested government official was kept under the wraps.
Hundreds of security personnel were deployed in the "Red Zone" at the heart of Islamabad, where Parliament is located, and helicopters were used to carry out aerial surveillance of the city.
In recent months, Pakistani police said they had foiled another plot by terrorists to target key buildings like Parliament and the Presidency.
According to media reports, the terrorists had plans to fire rockets at the buildings from mountains overlooking Islamabad, following which suicide attackers would storm the structures.
(With PTI inputs)
First Published: Saturday, March 31, 2012, 15:26