Huge cache of arms recovered in raids on Pakistan's bomb factories

Paramilitary troops have recovered huge cache of arms in raid on two illegally built bomb- making factories in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, officials said Saturday. Lt. Col. Zafar Iqbal, Operations Commander of Paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) said that both factories had four compounds where high-tech laboratories were set up for the preparation and test of different types of chemicals and explosive materials. He said the troops also found maps of Pakistan and Afghanistan in one of the compounds where the Taliban instructors trained suicide bombers to hit the desired locations in the two countries. Talking to media in provincial capital Quetta, Lt. General Nasir Khan Janjua, another official with FC, said that they had recovered 17,500 explosive sticks, five suicide vests, 1,650 landmines, 480 hand grenades, 2,524 kg of raw explosive materials in the raid conducted in Chaman and Qila Abdullah areas of Balochistan. He said that the explosive materials prepared in the factories were used in carrying out terrorist attacks and blowing up gas pipelines and railway tracks. Nasir said that the timely action by the FC has saved lives of hundreds of innocent peoples who are going to be a target of the recovered explosives. The troops closed the factories following the raids.