Two alleged terrorists possessing 1,000 detonators were arrested from Karachi’s North Nazimabad on Wednesday during a joint operation by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), a press release said.

According to the statement from SIU Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Junaid Ahmed Sheikh, the two terrorists were “arrested with explosive materials” while a search was under way to find their third partner, who manage to flee.

SSP Sheikh said that 1,000 detonators were obtained from the arrested suspects while two coil detonators were also seized.

He said in the statement the two terrorists were arrested while they were transferring the explosives from one place to another within the city.

During the preliminary investigation, the suspects confessed to bringing the explosives from Peshawar to Karachi to be used in “terrorist activities”, the press release said. It added the one to bring them was an absconding suspect.

The statement also revealed that a partner of the suspects was previously arrested from Punjab’s Charsadda city with explosives as well, and was sentenced to eight years in jail.

A case has been registered against the suspects in SIU police station under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 while further investigation is underway, the release added.