sohailbutt
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LAHORE: The commander of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a deadly assault on a Pakistani police academy and said the group was planning an attack on the US capital.
Baitullah Mehsud, who has a 5 million US Dollar bounty on his head from the US, said Monday's attack outside the eastern city of Lahore was in retaliation for US missile strikes against militants along the Afghan border.
"Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world," Mehsud told The Associated Press by phone.
In the meantime, Pakistan's police force on Tuesday honoured the dead from the attack on the police academy.
Grieving relatives, friends and colleagues of the murdered officers gathered to pay their final respects to those slain in the line of duty.
The bodies of seven police officers lying in coffins draped with Pakistan's national flag were carried on the shoulders of their colleagues before being placed in a line together for mourners to offer prayers before.
Mehsud and other Pakistan Taliban militants are believed to be based in the country's lawless tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan, where they have stepped up their attacks throughout Pakistan.
The Pakistan Taliban leader also claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed four soldiers on Monday in Bannu district and a suicide attack targeting a police station in Islamabad last week that killed one officer.
Such attacks pose a major test for the weak, year-old civilian administration of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that has been gripped with political turmoil in recent weeks.
The gunmen who attacked a police academy in Lahore on Monday killed seven police and two civilians, holding security forces at bay for about eight hours before being overpowered by Pakistani commandos.
Some of the attackers wore police uniforms, and they took hostages and tossed grenades during the assault.
Four suspected militants were arrested while at least three blew themselves up in Monday's battle, said a top government official in Punjab province.
The official said three other bodies were still unidentified.
The Interior Ministry chief said one of the arrested men was an Afghan, and that investigators believe the attack may have its roots along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, where Taliban militants have hideouts.
But he also pointed fingers at a Punjab-based Sunni extremist group and refused to rule out an Indian role.
Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesman from a little-known militant group linked to the Pakistani Taliban also claimed credit for the police academy attack and a similar ambush-style attack against the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier this month in Lahore.
Omar Farooq, who said he is the spokesman for Fedayeen al-Islam, said the group would carry out more attacks unless Pakistani troops withdraw from tribal areas near the Afghan border and the US stops its drone strikes.
The group previously said it was behind the deadly September bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad that killed 54 people.
Officials said more than 90 officers were wounded in the Lahore attack.
As the siege ended, black-clad Pakistani commandos fired their guns in the air in celebration at the top of the building.
Pakistan has endured scores of suicide bombings and other attacks in recent years, and it faces tremendous US pressure to eradicate al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents on its soil.
Most of the violence occurs along the country's northwest border with Afghanistan, but attacks have occurred in all the major cities. AGENCIES
.:: SAMAA - Mehsud's Taliban planning US attack
This bastard Mehsud should be assasinated by any means urgently because if he carries out attack on US then this may bring Pakistan in War with US and no one wants that to happen.
I think the crackdown on his group should be intensified and any members of his group killed on spot, these dirty pricks will ruin Pakistan forever if action is not taken now.
Baitullah Mehsud, who has a 5 million US Dollar bounty on his head from the US, said Monday's attack outside the eastern city of Lahore was in retaliation for US missile strikes against militants along the Afghan border.
"Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world," Mehsud told The Associated Press by phone.
In the meantime, Pakistan's police force on Tuesday honoured the dead from the attack on the police academy.
Grieving relatives, friends and colleagues of the murdered officers gathered to pay their final respects to those slain in the line of duty.
The bodies of seven police officers lying in coffins draped with Pakistan's national flag were carried on the shoulders of their colleagues before being placed in a line together for mourners to offer prayers before.
Mehsud and other Pakistan Taliban militants are believed to be based in the country's lawless tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan, where they have stepped up their attacks throughout Pakistan.
The Pakistan Taliban leader also claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed four soldiers on Monday in Bannu district and a suicide attack targeting a police station in Islamabad last week that killed one officer.
Such attacks pose a major test for the weak, year-old civilian administration of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that has been gripped with political turmoil in recent weeks.
The gunmen who attacked a police academy in Lahore on Monday killed seven police and two civilians, holding security forces at bay for about eight hours before being overpowered by Pakistani commandos.
Some of the attackers wore police uniforms, and they took hostages and tossed grenades during the assault.
Four suspected militants were arrested while at least three blew themselves up in Monday's battle, said a top government official in Punjab province.
The official said three other bodies were still unidentified.
The Interior Ministry chief said one of the arrested men was an Afghan, and that investigators believe the attack may have its roots along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, where Taliban militants have hideouts.
But he also pointed fingers at a Punjab-based Sunni extremist group and refused to rule out an Indian role.
Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesman from a little-known militant group linked to the Pakistani Taliban also claimed credit for the police academy attack and a similar ambush-style attack against the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier this month in Lahore.
Omar Farooq, who said he is the spokesman for Fedayeen al-Islam, said the group would carry out more attacks unless Pakistani troops withdraw from tribal areas near the Afghan border and the US stops its drone strikes.
The group previously said it was behind the deadly September bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad that killed 54 people.
Officials said more than 90 officers were wounded in the Lahore attack.
As the siege ended, black-clad Pakistani commandos fired their guns in the air in celebration at the top of the building.
Pakistan has endured scores of suicide bombings and other attacks in recent years, and it faces tremendous US pressure to eradicate al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents on its soil.
Most of the violence occurs along the country's northwest border with Afghanistan, but attacks have occurred in all the major cities. AGENCIES
.:: SAMAA - Mehsud's Taliban planning US attack
This bastard Mehsud should be assasinated by any means urgently because if he carries out attack on US then this may bring Pakistan in War with US and no one wants that to happen.
I think the crackdown on his group should be intensified and any members of his group killed on spot, these dirty pricks will ruin Pakistan forever if action is not taken now.
