A day after a suicide bomb explosion left as many as 65 people dead, Pakistan launched a massive military operation in Punjab, reported PTI. Intelligence agencies along with Army and Rangers personnel conducted raids and arrested several suspects in the province. The investigators have also recovered "huge cache of arms and ammunition" during the operations. Monday's raids were conducted after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif separately chaired high-level security meetings to review the situation and ordered the crackdown.

The director general of the Pakistani Army's media wing, Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa, had earlier said that several suspects and facilitators have been arrested during the five raids conducted in Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan following Sunday's explosion. The police have identified the suicide bomber as Yousuf, son of Ghulam Farid, a resident of Muzaffargarh in southwestern Punjab. He is believed to 20-25 years old, according to the report. A sketch of the terrorist was prepared with the help of an eye witness. The Pakistani faction of the Taliban Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed responsibility for Monday's attack.