Kashmir, Afghan groups target Musharraf -Pakistan<\/p>\n
Amir Zia, Reuters, Islamabad<\/p>\n
Kashmiri and Afghan militant groups were behind the latest
\nassassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf, a Pakistani
\nminister said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\"Both the suicide bombers have been identified. One of them
\nbelonged to Kashmir and the other was from the North West
\nFrontier Province, said Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, information
\nminister, referring to Pakistan-held Kashmir.<\/p>\n
Pakistan's North Western Frontier Province borders
\nAfghanistan.<\/p>\n
\"It's a huge network of terrorists having tentacles from
\nKashmir to Afghanistan. They also have international ties,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Two suicide car bombers tried to ram explosives-laden vehicles
\ninto Musharraf's limousine on Thursday in the garrison city of
\nRawalpindi, 20 km from the capital Islamabad.<\/p>\n
Fifteen people were killed and 45 wounded in the attack, the
\nsecond against Musharraf in less than a fortnight. A powerful
\nbomb exploded moments after his motorcade crossed a bridge on the
\nsame Rawalpindi road on Dec. 14.<\/p>\n
Musharraf, a staunch ally of the United States in the war
\nagainst terror, blamed Islamic extremists for the attacks and
\nvowed not to falter in fight against \"terrorism\".<\/p>\n
Interior ministry officials blamed a little-known Kashmiri
\ngroup, Al Jehad, for Thursday's attack.<\/p>\n
Hardline Islamists are furious with Musharraf for supporting
\nthe U.S.-led war in which Pakistan arrested hundreds of al-Qaeda
\nmilitants and handed them over to the United States.<\/p>\n
Musharraf's recent peace overtures with India and attempts to
\nresolve the protracted dispute with Pakistan's nuclear-armed
\nSouth Asian rival over Kashmir has also fueled militants' anger.<\/p>\n
Pakistan has not only banned several Pakistan-based guerrilla
\ngroups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, but is also trying to
\nstop militants infiltrating Indian Kashmir.<\/p>\n
\"The anger toward Musharraf and his policies is natural,\" said
\na former guerrilla belonging to the banned Harkat-ul Mujahedeen.<\/p>\n
\"We have lost so many friends, brothers and relatives in the
\nstruggle in Kashmir. What was that for? Not all mujahideen are
\ngoing to sit quietly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A dissident faction of the group called Harkat-ul Mujahedeen
\nal Alami tried to blow up Musharraf's motorcade in the southern
\nport city of Karachi last year, according to officials.<\/p>\n
Ahmed said several people have been arrested in the crackdown
\naimed to get the masterminds of the latest attack.<\/p>\n
\"We have entered the network,\" he said without elaborating.<\/p>\n
Kashmiri and Afghan militants have a history of close ties
\nwith the Pakistan army. Pakistan abandoned its one time ally, the
\nAfghan Taliban, to support the U.S.-led war, which ended the hold
\nof the Islamic militia over the war-ravaged Central Asian state.<\/p>\n
Analysts have questioned how the perpetrators could have got
\ndetails of Musharraf's movements to allow them to carry out two
\nattacks in so short a time in Rawalpindi, the army headquarters.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, militants ignored Musharraf's decoy motorcade,
\nofficial sources said.<\/p>\n
Analysts say this showed militants had either infiltrated
\nPakistan's top security agencies or gained access to sensitive
\ninformation.<\/p>",
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