In a remarkable development, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab said Friday that law enforcement arrested Amin al-Haq, a key aide to Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.
"The terrorist was apprehended during an intelligence-based operation," DIG CTD Usman Akram Gonadal said, adding that he was arrested in Sarai Alamgir, a town in the Gujarat region.
Haq had been associated with bin Laden since 1996, and the CTD observed that he was one of the extremist group's top warriors, participating in a variety of terrorist acts.
Haq, who was in charge of arranging security for the deceased Al-Qaeda chief, has also been designated as a terrorist by the United Nations.
The high-ranking official stated that a case had been filed against Haq and that the authorities would investigate what a high-profile terrorist was doing in Pakistan.
"He was spotted in Afghanistan in 2021. He also possesses a Pakistani ID card with addresses in Lahore and Haripur," the CTD official stated.
According to the United Nations Security Council's website, Haq, who was born in Afghanistan's Nangarhar region in 1960, was declared a terrorist on January 25, 2001.
In 2011, the US military raided bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing the worldwide terrorist, who was also involved in the fatal 9/11 attacks.