Police today seized three tones of explosives and a cache of weapons in this eastern Pakistani city, the second such recovery in as many days in the wake of a string of suicide attacks and bombings here.
Acting on a tip-off, police broke open a store on Wahdat Road near Moon Market, which was targeted by terrorists in December last year, and found 3,000 kg of explosives, three suicide jackets, four grenades and four light machine guns.
The owner of the store, identified only as Sarwar, was arrested and taken to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
Police recovered 1,500 kg of explosives, five suicide jackets, 1,200 bullets and a cache of weapons from a shop in Iqbal Town area of Lahore.
"Terrorists used the same explosive materials in six blasts in Iqbal Town on Friday and a suicide attack in Model Town on March 8," superintendent of police Nasir Rizvi said.
"The terrorists were apparently storing the explosives and weapons for a major terror attack. The seized explosives and weapons suggest that the terrorists want to carry out an attack on the pattern of the Mumbai incident," he said.
Today's seizure came a day after Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif said the Taliban should "spare" the province as his PML-N party and the militants both opposed former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and were against the dictation of Pakistan's policies by foreign powers.
His remarks triggered a major controversy in the country and were condemned by leaders of almost all political parties.
