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ISLAMABAD, July 2 (AFP) - Pakistani police Tuesday arrested 12 Muslim militants and seized a large quantity of arms meant for "terrorist attacks" in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi, a senior officer said.

The alleged terrorists were rounded up in raids conducted on their hideouts in Rawalpindi, city police chief Marwat Ali Shah told reporters.

The members of the "terrorist gangs" were from the banned Pakistani Sunni militant groups, the Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), he said.Police recovered 10 rocket launchers, four grenades, three detonators, five automatic and semi-automatic rifles, nine Kalashnikov assault rifles and some 2,000 rounds of ammunition from their hideouts, he said.

Shah said the men had told police that "they were planning terrorist attacks in Rawalpindi and Islamabad."

Pakistani police recently stepped up a campaign against the outlawed extermist Sunni Muslim groups, suspected to have links with alleged terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

The crackdown followed massive terrorist attacks in Karachi, including the June 14 bomb blast outside the US consulate in which 10 Pakistanis were killed.

Fourteen people, including nine French nationals, were killed in a car bomb blast outside Karachi's Sheraton Hotel on May 8.

Officials said the campaign, aimed at preventing such incidents, had so far led to the arrest more than 100 activists, including several hitmen wanted in sectarian violence.

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