Pakistan arrests 21 members of outlawed Pakistani Taliban militant group linked to deadly attacks

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s counterterrorism police say they have arrested 21 members of outlawed militant group the Pakistani Taliban, which has been behind several deadly attacks across the country. Acting on intelligence information, the arrests were made in eastern Punjab province over the past two weeks, the provincial Counterterrorism Department said in a statement Monday. The Pakistani Taliban is a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban. The statement said that authorities also arrested an alleged chief commander of the banned Baluch Nationalist Army, which mostly operates in Pakistan’s southwest Baluchistan province. Baluchistan has been the scene of low-level insurgency by nationalists for more than two decades.