ISLAMABAD , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- Pakistani authorities have launched a massive crackdown on terror groups that they say were planning numerous suicide attacks , including in the country 's largest city of Karachi . Pakistan security officials show seized weapons and ammunition in Karachi on Sunday after the arrest of seven alleged militants . At least 13 suspects were arrested Sunday and Monday , including three people carrying suicide jackets and explosives inside a bus station , a police official said . The three were seized early Monday after police raided a bus station in Sargodha , a city located about 120 miles ( 190 km ) south of Islamabad in Pakistan 's Punjab province . The suspects were plotting to attack two Shiite mosques , police stations , and a Norwegian telecommunications company in Punjab , according to district police officer Usman Anwar . Three other suspects linked to the plot were arrested hours later in Sargodha , he said . Those arrested early Monday included the Pakistani Taliban 's chief in Punjab , according to Anwar . The Taliban in Punjab have direct ties to Baitullah Mehsud , the former head of the Pakistan Taliban , and have been accused of sectarian murders in Punjab . Pakistan and U.S. officials contend Mehsud was killed in an August 5 drone attack in Waziristan at his father-in-law 's house . The Taliban claim Mehsud is alive but ill. Hakeemullah Mehsud has been selected as the new head of the Pakistani Taliban , a Taliban commander said Saturday . Pakistani authorities also said they thwarted planned attacks in the southern port city of Karachi , Pakistan 's largest city and the capital of Sindh province . Seven members of a banned militant group with strong ties to al Qaeda and the Taliban were arrested Sunday along with suicide vests and a large quantity of ammunition , according to the city 's police superintendent Mohammed Fayyaz Khan . The group , Lashkar-e-Jhangvi , was planning to conduct attacks in Karachi , according to Karachi Police Chief Waseem Ahmad . Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department , and was banned by then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 2001 . It is described as Pakistan 's `` most extreme and feared militant group '' by IHS Jane 's , a provider of defense and security information . The banned Sunni militant group , which began in the 1990s , is a `` key ally '' of the Taliban and al Qaeda , according to Jane 's . `` However , many of its leaders and members have been killed or jailed in recent years and there is little evidence that it remains a coherent organization with centralized structures , '' Jane 's said in an assessment released earlier this month . Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is blamed for the attempted assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999 , and the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007 . The group also has also been linked to the March attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore . The recent arrests in Karachi and in Punjab are part of a broader crackdown on terror groups that have extended their reach outside Pakistan 's volatile North West Frontier Province and adjacent tribal regions . That is where Pakistani security forces continue to battle a strong Taliban presence . Taliban militants maintained strongholds within 100 miles of the capital , Islamabad , before Pakistani security forces pushed them back this year . A month ago , Pakistani authorities unraveled a militant plot to target government buildings in Islamabad with suicide attackers , according to Interior Minister Rehmen Malik . Three bombers were detained , and along with them suicide vests packed with complex explosives surrounded by ball bearings that would kill anyone within 50 to 100 meters . `` They had the live jackets ... they were staying in one house and they had hidden the suicide jackets not far from that ( house ) in the hills , '' Malik told CNN . `` Obviously they had a plan in Islamabad because Islamabad is the icon of the country . '' He said they first planned to target parliament , then move on to other prominent government buildings in the capital city . Hitting back at the government would seem to be a high priority for the newly appointed leader of the Pakistani Taliban . Said to be a brazen and young commander , Hakeemullah Mehsud has been linked to past attacks on NATO troops along the Afghan-Pakistan border who are battling a resurgent Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan . Malik said the government is `` not interested '' in trying to establish a cease-fire with Taliban commanders during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan , which began this weekend . Past cease-fire agreements between the Pakistani government and tribal leaders negotiating on behalf of the Taliban have failed . `` They are at the weakest moments and everybody knows -- even a child of Pakistan knows about it -- that their back is broken , '' Malik said . `` They are no more powerful ... so we wo n't give them any time to get energized . '' CNN 's Samson Desta contributed to this report .
Arrests averted attacks on Bhutto , police chief says . Lashkar-e-Jhangvi linked to Pakistan Taliban assassination , attack on North West Frontier Province cricket team . Police : seven suspected Bhutto members also arrested with suicide vests .