Militant leader who led attack on Pakistan Army base is one of many defectors
Zahid Hussain in Islamabad
The leader of the attack on the Pakistani Army’s headquarters is one of several former military officers and soldiers to have joined Islamic militant groups.
Security officials have identified him as Mohammed Aqeel and said that he was in the medical corps before joining militants based in the northwestern tribal region of North Waziristan.
Earlier this year police arrested Major Haroon Rashid who, they said, worked for al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taleban and was involved in the murder of a retired general who led special forces against the militants.
The major quit the army in 2001 after Pakistan supported the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and went to Waziristan to train militants, security sources say.
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His younger brother, a captain, went to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Afghan Taleban after leaving the army in 2002. He was killed fighting British Forces in Helmand in 2002.
Ilyas Khashmiri, a retired army commando, was one of the most dreaded militant commanders until he was killed in a drone strike on North Waziristan last month. Intelligence sources say many other former soldiers are either fighting foreign forces in Afghanistan or helping militants in northwestern Pakistan.
They have been involved in planning strategies and tactics that have made the militants more effective in recent years. The militants also have sympathisers among serving officers, according to the intelligence sources.
At least six army officers — including some of the ranks of colonel and major — were arrested a few years ago for their alleged links with al-Qaeda and other militant groups.
Among them was a Major with whom Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11 attacks, stayed at Kohat Garrison before he was arrested in 2003.
Several low ranking air force personnel were also arrested that year for involvement in a failed plot to assassinate General Pervez Musharraf, the former president.
They were found to be members of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a banned Pakistani militant group which was close links with the Taleban and al Qaeda.
That incident led to a massive purge in the air force and the army.
Analysts said there were still officers in the military with radical Islamic leanings who opposed the army’s ongoing offensive against the militants in the northwest.
One indication is that many more officers and soldiers sport long beards than before, as is demanded by most of the militant groups and conservative clerics across the country.
Analysts said that did not necessarily mean they were inclined towards militancy, but there was always a danger of more conservative Muslims in the army turning to jihad.
Militant leader who led attack on Pakistan Army base is one of many defectors - Times Online
Paramilitary soldier arrested in Pak for UN building attack
Sunday, January 24, 2010,10:13
Islamabad, Jan.24 (ANI):
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that security agencies have apprehended a paramilitary soldier for his involvement in the suicide attack on the UN food programme's office in Islamabad in October last year, which killed five UN officials.
Buzz up!
Interacting with media persons here, Malik said the soldier, whose identity he did not disclose, was also involved in the attack outside the Navy headquarter in Islamabad, in which a security guard was killed and 11 people were injured.
It is worth mentioning here that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had taken the responsibility for the UN building attack.
Malik also denied the presence the controversial private US security firm, Blackwater, in the country, saying US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was misquoted by the media over the issue.
"I state again with full responsibility and as per available record that there is no Blackwater in the country. A hype is being created," The Dawn quoted Malik, as saying.
Gates had admitted that private American security agencies like Blackwater and DynCorp were operating inside Pakistan, but in private capacity. (ANI)
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Now, what will u say your own Pakistani Army officers and solders are involve in terrorism in your own country and attacking their own army head quarter.
Is this professionalism of Pakistani Army.
Leave this type of news and post something upto the standard of Defence.pk
i think we should refrain from talking about who is rich how much and who is poor how much, as at the end of the day its the poor people from both sides who suffer and for them it doesnt matter how much you have as foreign reserves or how much one spends on weapons, or other missions.
