 Intelligence agencies have uncovered a plot by two banned militant groups to kill Shia members of the legislative council of the Northern Areas, sources said on Monday. Sources said that leaders of banned outfits Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) had directed their operatives to form suicide squads to kill Shia members of the legislative council.
| They're actually the same organization, with different names... |
Intelligence agencies outlined details of the plan in a report submitted to the Interior Ministry, that contained information gleaned from three members of the banned groups. The report said that the SSP and LJ had asked their members in the Northern Areas to recruit women and children to the suicide squads.
| They're cheaper than men, of course... |
Clerics belonging to these organisations had also contacted people in the earthquake-hit areas to convince them to send their children to seminaries in Punjab. In return, they offered to pay for the childrenâs education, boarding and lodging, the report said. Maulana Ghulam Kibriya of Rahim Yar Khan was assigned to arrange for these childrenâs admissions to seminaries in southern Punjab, said the report. The banned organisations were also found distributing periodicals â Paigham-e-Haq (The Message of Truth) and Zarb-e-Momin â in the quake-affected areas, sources said. âThe report says that members of foreign rescue teams, including US nationals, frequently seen in the markets of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, are also potential targets for militants,â the sources said. The Interior Ministry has ordered the Northern Areasâ chief secretary, the Islamabad chief commissioner and the Punjab home secretary to take measures to prevent acts of terror. |