Pakistani Police Arrest Top Al-Qaeda Financier On UN Sanctions List

Pakistani special combat unites during exercise (file photo).

Police in the Pakistani city of Karachi say they have arrested a top Al-Qaeda financier who is on the United Nations Security Council's sanctions list.

Abdul Rehman Sindhi was arrested in a joint operation between police and intelligence agencies, police said on April 22.

"Sindhi is an old veteran of Al-Qaeda," senior police officer Muqadas Haider told Reuters. "He had stayed in touch with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri, and has worked with Harkat-ul Jihad Islami, Jaish-e Mohammad and the Al-Akhtar Trust."

Sindhi was put on the UN's sanctions list in 2012 for providing "facilitation and financial services to Al-Qaeda."

Pakistan has been under pressure to crack down on Islamist militants. It launched a renewed antiterrorism operation in 2014, when Al-Qaeda chief Zawahri announced the formation of a new wing, Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent.

The region spans across Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, and is home to more than 400 million Muslims.