The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Punjab on Thursday arrested a senior Al Qaeda leader, who was a close aide of slain 9/11 US terror attack mastermind Osama Bin Laden, from  Sarai Alamgir town in Pakistan.

The arrested person was identified as Amin ul Haq.

"The terrorist was apprehended during an intelligence-based operation," DIG CTD Usman Akram Gonadal was quoted as saying by Geo News, adding that he was taken into custody from Sarai Alamgir, a town in the Gujrat district.

He was associated with Bin Laden since 1996.

He was reportedly associated with several terror activities.

Haq — responsible for coordinating security for the deceased Al-Qaeda chief — has also been designated as a terrorist by the United Nations, Geo News reported.

The high-ranking officer told Geo News that a case had been registered against Haq, noting that the authorities would probe what was a high-profile terrorist doing in Pakistan.

"He was seen in Afghanistan in 2021. He also has Pakistan's ID Card, on which Lahore and Haripur's addresses have been added," the CTD officer added.

As per the United National Security Council's website, Haq was listed as a terrorist on 25 January 2001.

The United States troops carried out a raid on Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and eliminated Osama Bin Laden.

On September 11, 2001, 19 AQ members hijacked and crashed four U.S. commercial jets – two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon, and the last into a field in Pennsylvania.

Nearly 3,000 civilians, police, and first responders were killed. The dead included U.S. citizens and foreign nationals from at least 77 countries.