Pakistan police detains 50 Muslim militants

Pakistani police rounded up at least 50 activists from militant Islamic groups today in a pre-emptive move to stifle any violent…

Pakistani police rounded up at least 50 activists from militant Islamic groups today in a pre-emptive move to stifle any violent reaction to a speech by the president later in the day.

Most of the activists detained today are from the radical Sunni Muslim Sipah-iSahaba group and its Shi'ite rival, the Tehrik-i-Jaferia, which newspapers said could both be banned by Mr Musharraf later today.

Also among those held were members of two Pakistan-based militant groups fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir and which India blames for a bloody attack on its parliament on December 13th.

The Sipah-i-Sahaba and Tehrik-i-Jaferia have been blamed for a wave of sectarian bombings and shootings across Pakistan.

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Today's raids were the latest in a government drive to get tough with hardline Islamic militant groups blamed for sectarian violence and for attacks in India.

The Pakistani government says more than 100 activists have been picked up since late December but group officials say hundreds of their members have been detained.