The Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has arrested 12 alleged terrorists belonging to the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al-Qaeda from three different cities, including Lahore, it said in a statement on Friday.

Three of the 12 alleged militants were detained from a sensitive area in Lahore, the statement said.

The CTD said that the arrested militants were planning “subversive activities in sensitive areas.”

“Explosives and material used for making suicide vests were recovered from the terrorists,” said the authorities, adding that a case had been registered against the detainees and an investigation had been launched.

It stated that about 159 suspects had been arrested during 797 combing and search operations conducted by the CTD during the ongoing week.

“No stone will be left unturned in making terrorist elements reach their end,” the statement added.

For the last few months, terrorist organisations, including TTP, and ISIS, have been conducting a spate of attacks in Pakistan. However, the country’s civil and military leadership has resolved to stand united against them.

Last month, the National Apex Committee, comprising the country’s top military and political leadership sought national consensus to root out militancy.

The security forces and law enforcement agencies have also accelerated action against the terrorists who have claimed the lives of innocent Pakistanis and law enforcers in recent attacks across the country’s rural and urban centres.