Pakistan's military says an army officer has been detained for links to a banned Islamic extremist group.

Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told VOA Tuesday that Brigadier Ali Khan was arrested for links with Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Pakistan.

The detained army brigadier had been working at the Pakistani military headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Abbas said the army follows a policy of “zero tolerance” for any such activity.

The army officer was reportedly arrested just days after U.S. special forces shot and killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden during a May 2 raid in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

Abbas denied Tuesday that the army brigadier's detention was in connection to the U.S. military operation or the arrests of Pakistanis who allegedly helped the CIA in advance of the raid.