Lahore, 31 May

At least 34 terrorists were arrested when a major terror attack was foiled by law enforcement agencies in Punjab province of Pakistan, a statement said on Saturday.

Most of the arrested militants belong to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, with three of them categorised as the "most dangerous terrorists", a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) statement said.

The statement said it conducted 415 intelligence-based operations in different districts of the province during this week and arrested 34 terrorists.

It said the terrorists planned to target law enforcers and important buildings in the province and were arrested from various locations in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Jhelum, Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, Narowal, Jhelum, Pakpattan, Bahawalnagar, Bukhara, Kasur and Nankana Sahib.

Their plan has successfully been foiled, it said, adding three of them were "the most dangerous ones and wanted by police".

Explosives 5,841 grams, detonators 19, safety fuse wire 51 feet, hand grenades, and banned literature were recovered from their possession, the statement said.

The CTD said it registered 23 cases against the terrorists and was carrying out further investigation into the matter.