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