By Asif Farooqi, IOL Pakistan correspondent

ISLAMABAD, December 21 (IslamOnline) - The recent arrests and killings of over a dozen wanted men and their sponsors accused of “terrorism”, in two major Pakistani cities have proven that FBI-led anti-terror operation in this Afghan neighboring country are getting more and more visible.

Pakistani and FBI agents nabbed two groups this week which were allegedly planning separate attacks on U.S. forces and diplomats based in Karachi.

Police produced a group of four people allegedly belonging to the Jaish-e-Muhammad group, in a special anti-terrorist court Saturday, December 21, claiming that they had been planning to undertake suicide attacks against the U.S. Special Forces based at Karachi International Airport.

According to the police account, one of the accused confessed to planning suicide attacks against the U.S. soldiers staying at Midway Hotel, but failed to implement his plans because of their abrupt withdrawal from Karachi.

U.S. forces were withdrawn from the Karachi airport in November 2002 following a decision by the U.S. government to abandon the Karachi airport as a transit base for the equipment being shipped to Afghanistan through the Arabian Sea.

Police claimed they had arrested the men overnight while they were planting a bomb on a busy road bridge in the eastern Karachi.

Seeking the custody of the accused, police told the court Saturday that the accused had confessed of taking directions for “terrorist” attacks against the U.S. forces from two Arab nationals.

“Two Arab nationals gave them money to buy explosives but before they could arrange the explosives, the U.S. forces had already left Karachi,” police told the court.

Police have also mentioned two more people as contact persons between the Arabs and the detained men.

Some hand grenades and other weapons were also produced before the court, with police claiming as belonging to the men.

Another group of four men were arrested December 15 in Karachi. Police claimed the group was planning to kill U.S. diplomats based in Karachi. The police claimed they recovered a German-made Volkswagen from the arrested men which was packed with explosives.

The detained men, alleged Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members, apparently revealed that they had planned to smash the explosive packed car into the vehicles carrying U.S. diplomats. They were caught on a tip-off and have since been in police custody.

Police sources told IslamOnline Saturday that evidence of the involvement of two U.S. nationals and one Canadian in “unwarranted activities” has been established. The three were arrested in Lahore December 19.

Their arrests came in conjunction with the detainment of 6 other people found in the home of Dr. Ahmad Javed Khawaja. The three foreign nationals are relatives of Khawaja and have confirmed that they had visited Afghanistan after September 11, 2001.

However, all three deny having any links to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.

Investigators told IslamOnline that during the initial investigations they were allegedly able to establish that the Khawaja and his family members have been in close touch with Al-Qaeda members during the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan, providing them with both refuge as well as treatment.

The investigating agencies are not yet sure whether any of their detainees have been in recent contact with any of the wanted Al-Qaeda leaders.

A most-wanted “militant”, Asif Ramzi, was found dead in the ruins of a collapsed building in Karachi December 19. The building was later identified as a warehouse used for storing explosives and making bombs.

Four bodies, including that of Ramzi and some explosive material were found from the rubble. The cause of the explosion was said to be the accidental use of explosive material stored in the building.

U.S. agencies have been chasing Al-Qaeda and Taliban members in Pakistan, although the Pakistani government has always denied the presence of the FBI and other U.S. agencies in the country.