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Two Lashkar-i-Jhangvi members arrested in mosque bombing
 Police and security personnel have carried out a raid arresting two militants of an outlawed extremist group involved in a Shrine suicide bombing that killed at least 20 people in the Pakistani capital. The forces, after being tipped off, conducted a raid on a guest house "rented hideout" of suspects in the Sargodha city of eastern Punjab province, about 400 kilometers from Islamabad, a district police officer, Naeem Shaikh, told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Monday. He said the two suspects, identified as Mansour Ahmed and Zafar Iqbal, are members of Al-Qaeda linked militant group, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ). Earlier, a third suspect, Muhammad Saeed, was arrested but was released later. He added that Ahmed, during initial interrogation, has confessed to his involvement in the suicide attack.| "Ow ow ow! I confess! I confess! Stop doing that and I'll name anyone you like!" |
At least 20 people were killed and over 100 were wounded in the suicide explosion at Bari Imam Shrine on Friday. The blast took place as thousands of worshippers were gathered at the Shrine to attend a religious festival. The government had released a photo of the suspected suicide attacker and announced reward money of 500,000 rupees (Approx. US8,400) for information that help to locate him. Designated as a terrorist organization by the United States on January 30, 2003, the LIJ is a Sunni-Deobandi Muslim extremist group based primarily in the Punjab region of Pakistan and the port city of Karachi. It has confirmed links with Al-Qaeda and assisted in several high-profile attacks on Westerners in Pakistan, including the January 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Posted by: Seafarious 2005-05-31 |
