Possible role of Kashmir-focused groups may hinder Times Square terrorism probe

[third eye]

Here lies the problem which is at the root of most of what ails our part of the world.

It has been discussed & thrashed N number of times, things will just not change.



washingtonpost.com

KARACHI, PAKISTAN -- Faisal Shahzad's path from suburban Connecticut to bombmaking training in Pakistan's mountains may have wound through a mosque on a ragged corner of this metropolis, Pakistani officials say. The suggestion highlights the nation's complex militant web -- but could also form an obstacle to a terrorism investigation spanning two continents.

A man who guided Shahzad from Karachi to the country's northwest, Pakistani officials say, was arrested this week at the mosque, which is affiliated with Jaish-i-Muhammad. The al-Qaeda-linked group is one in a mosaic of domestic jihadist organizations that were created or cultivated by Pakistan's intelligence services to antagonize Indian troops in the disputed region of Kashmir but have gone increasingly rogue.

U.S. officials say they are worried about these militant groups based in Punjab province, many of which are banned but still operate freely. The most prominent among them is Lashkar-i-Taiba, suspected in a deadly 2008 siege in Mumbai. The group has changed its legal name, but its leaders remain free.

Some elements in Pakistan's security establishment continue to view such groups as assets against India, and Punjabi politicians court them for political support. It is uncertain whether Pakistan would take aggressive action against the organizations, even if they are found to be definitively connected to the Times Square bombing attempt.

"There's never been any clampdown on any of these groups that were fighting in Kashmir. That's not just Lashkar, it's everyone," said Ahmed Rashid, who has written extensively on militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan. "That's a problem."

Pakistani authorities are looking into whether the groups are connected to the New York case, although developments in the investigation remain murky. On Thursday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he did not think Shahzad acted alone, as some Pakistani officials have suggested.

In addition to the arrest this week of Mohammed Rehan -- described variously by officials as a prominent Jaish-i-Muhammad leader and Shahzad's suspected "motivator" -- one Karachi intelligence official said as many as 30 people were detained Thursday for questioning by Pakistani and U.S. authorities. All were associated with Jaish-i-Muhammad, Lashkar-i-Taiba and another banned sectarian group, Sipah-e-Sahaba, the official said.

A second intelligence official said that at least 16 people affiliated with those militant organizations have been detained in recent days in Karachi and in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Pakistani officials say publicly that they have established no concrete links between Shahzad and any militant organization. U.S. officials say evidence points to the involvement of the Pakistani Taliban, a predominantly Pashtun group based in the Afghan border region whose anti-state agenda traditionally did not overlap with that of Kashmir-focused organizations. It initially asserted responsibility for the bombing attempt, but a spokesman later denied involvement.

As state support for anti-India militant groups has waned, the aims of the Pakistani Taliban and the Kashmir-oriented groups have increasingly converged. Militant groups of various stripes have intermingled, and Punjabi fighters have become valuable bridges between Pakistan's mainland and the rugged, restricted border where guerrilla training takes place.

Five Northern Virginia men arrested late last year and charged with terrorism in Pakistan came in contact with Jaish-i-Muhammad while on a journey they had hoped would take them to North Waziristan, a haven for the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Pakistani authorities say.

Jaish-i-Muhammad has been implicated in several prominent terrorist acts in South Asia, including an attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001 and the killing of journalist Daniel Pearl. It was banned in Pakistan in 2002.

That caused the group to splinter, said terrorism analyst Muhammad Amir Rana, though its main infrastructure remained intact in a form common to banned militant organizations in Pakistan: as a religious charity operating schools and hospitals and, along the way, indoctrinating fighters. Some of those recruits have joined up with the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban in the tribal areas.
"There are people who are the Punjabi Taliban operating in North Waziristan and South Waziristan and other tribal agencies," a senior Pakistani intelligence official said. "People do tend to support each other."

In the Karachi suburb of North Nazimabad on Thursday, the principal of the madrassa, or religious school, at the sand-colored Bat'ha mosque declined to answer questions about Rehan or Shahzad. Across the street, several shopkeepers said that they knew nothing about either man but that they had heard about recent arrests at the mosque.

It was common knowledge, they said, that the mosque was a hotbed for Jaish-i-Muhammad. The shopkeepers said its members, a mix of Pashtuns and southern Punjabis, frequently collect donations for the group.

"Every banned organization changes their name and continues on working," said Asad Raza Khan, sitting behind a counter selling spice packets and gum.

One former resident of North Nazimabad said he attended prayers at the mosque and frequently saw weapons inside. He said that after the ban, officials at the mosque washed away the jihadist slogans painted on the outside walls, but nothing else changed.

Mohammed Imran, the neighborhood's former political boss from the ruling party in Karachi, said intelligence officials monitor the mosque. But they only watch the front door, he said -- and Jaish-i-Muhammad activists use the back one.

Special correspondent Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad and a special correspondent in Karachi contributed to this report.

 

[Marxist]

Two or more groups could have tutored Times Square suspect

Washington/New York, May 7 (IANS) US investigators probing the aborted Times Square bombing attempt have shifted their focus to prime suspect Faisal Shahzad’s links in Pakistan and a counter-terrorism expert has said two or more groups could have worked together in grooming Shahzad for a terrorist mission.

Meanwhile, the US is planning to send Pakistan a detailed request for “urgent and specific assistance” in the aborted bombing case, the Washington Post reported.

According to the daily, a US counter-terrorism official was cited as saying it was possible that two or more groups had worked together in grooming Shahzad for a terrorist mission during an extended trip he made to Pakistan last year.

The influential daily cited US officials as saying that they had reached no firm conclusion about whether Shahzad had ties to any domestic militant group in Pakistan, but that information gathered thus far continued to point to the Pakistani Taliban, which has asserted responsibility for the bombing attempt.

The question of which group, if any, was involved is an important one for the future of the uneasy counter-terrorism alliance between the United States and Pakistan, it said.

“The Pakistani military has been waging war against the Pakistani Taliban for more than a year, with US assistance,” the Post said.

“But Pakistan might be more reluctant to take action against other groups, particularly those focused on separating the disputed region of Kashmir from India.”

“Some, particularly the Lashkar-e-Taiba, thought responsible for terrorist attacks in India, have strong support within the Pakistani intelligence service,” it noted.

The Post cited Pakistani officials aiding in the Times Square case as saying they have arrested some people linked to a third group, Jaish-e-Muhammad, which is focused on Kashmir but has also turned its efforts against US troops in Afghanistan.

US intelligence suspects there is increasing overlap and coordination among domestic Pakistani groups and the Pakistan-based Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda, the daily said.

The Post said pressure on Pakistan to escalate its domestic counter-terrorism operations, particularly toward Kashmir – and India-focused militants, could increase anti-US sentiment there, while any perceived Pakistani hesitation would undermine congressional and public support in the US.

White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs told reporters that the justice department and investigating agencies are actively looking at the time which Shahzad spent in Pakistan, but did not go into details.

The New York Times also cited unnamed officials as saying that after two days of intense questioning Shahzad, an American citizen of Pakistani origin, evidence was mounting that the Pakistani Taliban had helped inspire and train Shahzad in the months before he drove the car bomb to Times Square Saturday night.

Officials said Shahzad had discussed his contacts with the group, and investigators had accumulated other evidence that they would not disclose.

On Wednesday, Shahzad, the 30-year-old son of a retired senior Pakistani Air Force officer, waived his right to a speedy arraignment, a possible sign of his continuing cooperation with investigators, the Times said.

One senior Obama administration official cited by the Times cautioned that “there are no smoking guns yet” that the Pakistani Taliban had directed the Times Square bombing.

But others said that there were strong indications that Shahzad knew some members of the group and that they probably had a role in training him. American officials said it had become increasingly difficult to separate the operations of the militant groups in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Besides the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda, groups operating in the tribal areas are the Haqqani Network and the Kashmiri groups Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the Mumbai terror attacks, and Jaish-e-Muhammad.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal said Shahzad possibly received instruction from the Pakistan Taliban’s suicide-bomb trainer.

If verified, the suspected links between Pakistan Taliban and Shahzad would mark a stark shift in how it and related jihadist groups, which have so far focused on attacks within Pakistan and in India, not the US, pursue their goals, it said.

Pakistani investigators are also probing Shahzad’s possible connections with Jaish-e-Muhammad, an outlawed Islamist militant group, after the arrest Tuesday of Tohaid Ahmed and Mohammed Rehan in Karachi, the Journal said.

The two men were believed to have links to Jaish, it said citing a senior Pakistani government official. Ahmed had been in email contact with Shahzad.

Rehan took Shahzad to South Waziristan, the official was quoted as saying. There, Shahzad received training in explosives in a camp run by Qari Hussain, a senior commander with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan who trains suicide bombers, the official was quoted as saying.

Hussain is also a cousin of Hakimullah Mehsud, the Pakistan Taliban’s chief.

Hussain claimed responsibility for the attempted attack in a weekend audio message. His message followed a video of Mehsud, the Pakistan Taliban leader, in which he warned of a wave of attacks on the US. “Our fighters are already in the United States,” said Mehsud.

Two or more groups could have tutored Times Square suspect (Second Lead) | Sindh Today - Online News

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