Pakistan on Thursday admitted for the first time that the Islamic State group has a presence in the country. However, the government said it has successfully foiled the outfit's plans to carry out major terror attacks in the region, reported Radio Pakistan.

Pakistani army spokesperson Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa said, "Daesh [an acronym for the Islamic State group as it is called in Arabic] tried to make an ingress into Pakistan, but the core of its group have now been apprehended." He said the country's security agencies have arrested 309 people for their suspected links to the terror group. According to Bajwa, the group's mastermind in Pakistan Hafiz Umar and top commander Ali Rehman have also been held. Those arrested include 25 people from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

Bajwa said the group was responsible for attacks on media and security personnel in Pakistan. He said they were also planning attacks on government, diplomatic and civilian targets, besides foreign embassies and airports. According to him, the group may try to infiltrate the country from Afghanistan, where they have bases in at least three border provinces. The Nawaz Sharif government has plans to set up 18 major gates between the two countries to contain such bids.