WHO WAS BEHIND LAHORE 3/3 Terror Attacks

[salman nedian]

why it is not ISI and army to weaken the Govt. of Pakistan and take over the power from the GoP???

if you say Police are dead... spys will kill their own people for their goodwill...it's part of spying

By this logic Mumbai attacks were carried out to kill Kukuray and gain the political benefits.

 

[Metallic]

3 March 2009

The attacks in Lahore could be the result of a "holy alliance" of extremists who have come together to try and topple the Pakistani state.

They include the Taliban and al-Qaeda but may also have recruited well-trained terrorists from Kashmiri groups such as Lashkar e-Taiba (LeT), responsible for the Mumbai attacks.

Their aim is to overthrow the government in Pakistan – whether military or civilian – and replace it with an Islamic one, and attacking high-profile sporting targets such as the Sri Lankan cricket team would fit an agenda which sees music and entertainment as un-Islamic.

With a team made up mostly of Buddhists, the Sri Lankans must have looked even more attractive to religious fundamentalists aiming for a new "spectacular."

The attack in Lahore bore striking similarities to the attacks on hotels in Mumbai, India.

Several of the men had adopted western clothing and were carrying backpacks of supplies and spare ammunition and grenades, moving in pairs from target to target.

Indian police interrogating Zarrar Shah, the only surviving Mumbai bomber, last year said he had trained with 20 other terrorists.

If LeT is responsible, it would mean they had turned on the state that once supported them.

The group started as a nationalist organisation fighting Indian forces with the support of the Pakistani secret service, the ISI, and aiming at reuniting Pakistani and Indian parts of Kashmir.

But their attacks on hotels in Mumbai showed that they have become much closer to the global Islamic agenda of al-Qaeda, as they attacked western and Jewish targets.

Although the organisation was already nominally banned in Pakistan, the Mumbai attacks provoked the Pakistani government to arrest their leaders.

Ahmed Rashid, who lives in Lahore and has written a book, Descent into Chaos, about Pakistan's struggle against militants, said the attackers were almost certainly part of this "extremist network."

"These men appeared to be urban-based and semi-educated and are more likely to be from Kashmiri or Punjabi extremist groups than Taliban tribesmen.

"They could be from Lashkar e-Taiba which has battle experience in Afghanistan, links to al-Qaeda and has conducted multiple operations in Pakistan.

"It is part of a new network of groups that takes its strategy from al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

His view was echoed by Salman Taseer, governor of the Punjab, where Lahore is the capital, who said: "It's the same pattern, the same terrorists who attacked Mumbai."

Mr Rashid said there were now two or three suicide bombings a week in Pakistan, stretching from Karachi in the south to Islamabad in the north.

"The government will probably survive this particular attack, but there will be more to come," he added.

Professor Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute, said the agenda of the attackers owed more to the Taliban and al-Qaeda than the traditionally nationalist aims of Kashmiri separatist groups.

"It is more likely that these men are religious fundamentalists who want Pakistan to be a land of Islam," he said.

Although one of the Pakistan Taliban leaders, Maulana Fazlullah, in the once-peaceful Swat Valley in northern Pakistan, agreed a shaky ceasefire last week, the other main Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in the western Tribal Areas, remains a potent threat.

The attack on the cricket team bus – a combination of car bombs and shooting – has echoes of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, wife of President Zardari, which was carried out by Mehsud's men in Rawalpindi.

But it also represents as "spectacular" aimed at putting "terror in the hearts of the unbelievers" which is a typical tactic of al-Qaeda leaders living under Taliban protection.

"This is potentially a big nail in the coffin of Pakistan. The message is that Pakistan is a basket case," said Prof Clarke, "and all the international and American support will not make any difference."

Without any claim of responsibility, which may never come, other groups associated with al-Qaeda cannot be ruled out, including Jaish e-Mohammed, Harakat ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar e-Jhangvi.

Another theory, is that the attack was the work of the Tamil Tigers, currently in a rear-guard fight for survival in Sri Lanka, but that remains unlikely since Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the stars of the Sri Lankan cricket team, is a Tamil.

Elements in Pakistan are always likely to blame their traditional enemy, India, but with the Pakistani security forces' failure to capture any of the gunmen, the identity of the culprits may remain a mystery.

Source: Telegraph

 

[uday]

r u sure? than y havent think of these two for mumbai incidence?

yah,100%! even FBI has provided information linking LeT and pak Army!!!
Mossad is ment to save Jews (please read the Mossad objectives)

 

[Omar1984]

3 March 2009

The attacks in Lahore could be the result of a "holy alliance" of extremists who have come together to try and topple the Pakistani state.

They include the Taliban and al-Qaeda but may also have recruited well-trained terrorists from Kashmiri groups such as Lashkar e-Taiba (LeT), responsible for the Mumbai attacks.

Their aim is to overthrow the government in Pakistan – whether military or civilian – and replace it with an Islamic one, and attacking high-profile sporting targets such as the Sri Lankan cricket team would fit an agenda which sees music and entertainment as un-Islamic.

With a team made up mostly of Buddhists, the Sri Lankans must have looked even more attractive to religious fundamentalists aiming for a new "spectacular."

The attack in Lahore bore striking similarities to the attacks on hotels in Mumbai, India.

Several of the men had adopted western clothing and were carrying backpacks of supplies and spare ammunition and grenades, moving in pairs from target to target.

Indian police interrogating Zarrar Shah, the only surviving Mumbai bomber, last year said he had trained with 20 other terrorists.

If LeT is responsible, it would mean they had turned on the state that once supported them.

The group started as a nationalist organisation fighting Indian forces with the support of the Pakistani secret service, the ISI, and aiming at reuniting Pakistani and Indian parts of Kashmir.

But their attacks on hotels in Mumbai showed that they have become much closer to the global Islamic agenda of al-Qaeda, as they attacked western and Jewish targets.

Although the organisation was already nominally banned in Pakistan, the Mumbai attacks provoked the Pakistani government to arrest their leaders.

Ahmed Rashid, who lives in Lahore and has written a book, Descent into Chaos, about Pakistan's struggle against militants, said the attackers were almost certainly part of this "extremist network."

"These men appeared to be urban-based and semi-educated and are more likely to be from Kashmiri or Punjabi extremist groups than Taliban tribesmen.

"They could be from Lashkar e-Taiba which has battle experience in Afghanistan, links to al-Qaeda and has conducted multiple operations in Pakistan.

"It is part of a new network of groups that takes its strategy from al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

His view was echoed by Salman Taseer, governor of the Punjab, where Lahore is the capital, who said: "It's the same pattern, the same terrorists who attacked Mumbai."

Mr Rashid said there were now two or three suicide bombings a week in Pakistan, stretching from Karachi in the south to Islamabad in the north.

"The government will probably survive this particular attack, but there will be more to come," he added.

Professor Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute, said the agenda of the attackers owed more to the Taliban and al-Qaeda than the traditionally nationalist aims of Kashmiri separatist groups.

"It is more likely that these men are religious fundamentalists who want Pakistan to be a land of Islam," he said.

Although one of the Pakistan Taliban leaders, Maulana Fazlullah, in the once-peaceful Swat Valley in northern Pakistan, agreed a shaky ceasefire last week, the other main Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in the western Tribal Areas, remains a potent threat.

The attack on the cricket team bus – a combination of car bombs and shooting – has echoes of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, wife of President Zardari, which was carried out by Mehsud's men in Rawalpindi.

But it also represents as "spectacular" aimed at putting "terror in the hearts of the unbelievers" which is a typical tactic of al-Qaeda leaders living under Taliban protection.

"This is potentially a big nail in the coffin of Pakistan. The message is that Pakistan is a basket case," said Prof Clarke, "and all the international and American support will not make any difference."

Without any claim of responsibility, which may never come, other groups associated with al-Qaeda cannot be ruled out, including Jaish e-Mohammed, Harakat ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar e-Jhangvi.

Another theory, is that the attack was the work of the Tamil Tigers, currently in a rear-guard fight for survival in Sri Lanka, but that remains unlikely since Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the stars of the Sri Lankan cricket team, is a Tamil.

Elements in Pakistan are always likely to blame their traditional enemy, India, but with the Pakistani security forces' failure to capture any of the gunmen, the identity of the culprits may remain a mystery.

Source: Telegraph

BS. Take a look at this thread http://www.defence.pk/forums/war-terror/21846-taliban-threatens-anti-india-groups.html

 

[hembo]

Source: Times online uk: The enemy within

Pakistan's rulers have long failed to confront extremism; yesterday's hail of machine-gun fire in Lahore is the result
___________________________________

The attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team yesterday could not have sent a more chilling message that militant Islam is as ruthless, dangerous and adroit as ever. It also demonstrated how Pakistan each day is inching nearer to becoming a failed state. Its politicians run scared from extremists, its security services are compromised by terrorist organisations and its streets are now unsafe for visitors who want to do nothing more than come and play a game of cricket.

The twelve gunmen who ambushed the team's bus in Lahore and opened fire, killing six policemen and a driver, were formidably armed, co-ordinated in tactics and apparently had little fear of death or capture. In hitting a visiting cricket team, they could not have chosen a target more likely to outrage a cricket-mad nation, humiliate its hapless Government and send a defiant message not only to India, Sri Lanka and other neighbours but to the entire cricket world.

Few doubt that al-Qaeda or its affiliates in Pakistan's tribal areas were the instigators. Suggestions that the Tamil Tigers were avenging their defeat in Sri Lanka are improbable: the tactics recall the attack on Mumbai three months ago. The timing was intended as a response to the recent deadly strikes by US drones on al-Qaeda leaders in villages on the Afghan border. And the political aim is transparent: to make it clear to the Pakistani Army and the political establishment that they are losing the war against religious extremism.

A measure of that failure is the absurd initial claim by a Pakistani minister that the attackers were sent across the border by India in a “conspiracy” to defame Pakistan. President Zardari's principal enemy is within and, until he and his ministers understand this, there is little chance that they will find the will and means to deal with the terrorist threat. India's assertion that Pakistan has done next to nothing to pursue the masterminds of the Mumbai attacks has proven all too true. No real effort has been made to disband Lashka-e-Taiba, the extremist organisation implicated in Islamist terrorism. Pakistan's initial denials of knowledge or responsibility have been grudgingly followed by a few token arrests - and, on past form, those held will be quietly released in a few months.

The truth is that the army, the compromised Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and the political establishment have shown no serious interest in confronting the Islamists. They have too many sympathisers in their own ranks to risk a crackdown and too many fifth columnists ready to tip off the terrorists. Many Pakistanis still believe that India is the main enemy and that Islamist terrorists might always be useful to rekindle the conflict in Kashmir or strike at Indian targets abroad - as they did in Kabul.

The politicians always have one fearful eye on the angry mood of Pakistan's impoverished masses, whose plight is exacerbated by the global downturn. With the political class, largely the beneficiaries of a feudal system, seen as a corrupt and self-serving group unable to set aside personal rivalries, those preaching an austere religious fundamentalism will always find support.

Pakistan is now in grave danger. The latest atrocity increases tensions with India, weakens any hopes that America and the West will shore up the floundering democracy and makes it humiliatingly clear to ordinary people that their country is becoming ungovernable. Mr Zardari should use this attack to apply pressure to both the army and the ISI. Pakistan risks a global cricket boycott, a threat that means a great deal to the Pakistani people. To the millions for whom cricket is a religion, it should be a call to confront extremism before it destroys them and the ideals on which their state was founded.

 

[Omar1984]

Three children among four gunned down in Narowal

Updated at: 1646 PST, Wednesday, March 04, 2009
NAROWAL: Four persons, including three children, were killed when unknown gunmen ambushed a vehicle in Narowal on Wednesday.

It was learnt that attacked vehicle was owned by a Nazim in which four people, including three children, were killed.

Three children among four gunned down in Narowal - GEO.tv

For those of you who dont know, Narowal is a district in Punjab province of Pakistan and its located right on the border with India.

 

[uday]

By this logic Mumbai attacks were carried out to kill Kukuray and gain the political benefits.

if it's so...why US is pressing Pakistan to act against terrorism and not on India???
why rest of the world pointing finger towards pakisthan???

 

[nnsinghal]

Theres a saying in clinical psychology that if u want to change urself u must have the will to do so................... i know paks contribution against taliban and terrorists in swat, bajaur,nwfp etc but if u support these activities at one side of border and fight them at other side, hows that going to work???, every terrorist org is virulent whether they r in favour of u or not.

one more thing, it seems like my pakistani frnds r using manglore incident(in other threads), we admit it that they r wrong and just for ur information the chief who planned d incident has got over 2000 pink chaddis(panties) till now and even im considering of sending one........

 

[notsuperstitious]

By this logic Mumbai attacks were carried out to kill Kukuray and gain the political benefits.

Except that pakistanis have been caught.

 

[IceCold]

At that time, you were pals not now. Taliban is been hunted by pakistan reluctantly under pressure from US and they have turned against you too. Remember those attempts against Mushraff?

Question is not about whether taliban were pals or not, its about the Indian involvement. My point is simple if they could terrorize then, what makes any one of us think they wont this time again and specially when the situation is in their favor.

 

[IceCold]

Except that pakistanis have been caught.

Not Pakistanis but GOP who responsibility was to safe guard and make sure nothing of this sort would happen, yes they have failed and failed miserably and the most worst part of this incident has yet to come where taliban would be blamed and not who have actually committed the crime.

 

[hembo]

Times Online UK: World Agenda: cricket attack exposes increasing chaos in Pakistan - Bronwen Maddox

Yesterday’s terrorist attacks do not mean that Pakistan is a failed state. But it has a failed President. Asif Zardari, a disastrous replacement for his assassinated wife, Benazir Bhutto, is compounding his country’s problems by his pursuit of personal survival at the expense of its Constitution, the rule of law and agreement between the main political parties that they will work to shore up democracy. He is utterly inadequate to meet the threat that Pakistan is facing.

What is it facing? What kind of terrorist group would find it useful to hit at cricket, a national passion? Fingers were pointed yesterday at Lashkar-e-Taiba, widely held responsible for the Mumbai attacks.

The actions of militants make sense only if their aims are the destruction of the normal civil life of Pakistan, as well as the shattering of international links — particularly those with India and others on the sub-continent. Yesterday’s shootings show that terrorism can reach into the heart of Pakistan’s main cities — even Lahore, heart of the Punjab, the part of Pakistan that most solidly functions as a normal country.

The feature that gives cause for hope is that most Pakistanis are moderate and loathe religious extremism. Until recently, another claim for stability was that the big cities remained remarkably free of terrorist action. Normal commercial and sporting life must now be overshadowed by nervousness.

Will it help Mr Zardari? Not really. It would help a competent president, who might gain strength to rally the country against the threat of home-grown terrorism.

However, Mr Zardari is not that figure. He has proved as willing to talk to America and Britain about the war in Afghanistan as they could reasonably expect, but he will do any deal, it seems, to secure his survival. The most damaging for the stability of the country may prove to be last week’s support for the ruling by the highly politicised courts to bar Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League, from contesting elections. When Mrs Bhutto and Mr Sharif, heading the two main political parties, re-entered Pakistan in 2007, after years of exile, they swore to work together to restore democracy. That is a concept in which Mr Zardari is less interested, it seems.

Pakistan’s salvation is likely to depend on reforging commercial and social links with its neighbours to the east — India above all, but also Sri Lanka. The gunmen knew the value of their target.

 

[s90]

On Jan 22 ISI warned Punjab Gov. tht RAW can attack the SriLankan team

 

[salman nedian]

if it's so...why US is pressing Pakistan to act against terrorism and not on India???
why rest of the world pointing finger towards pakisthan???

So let’s wait and see.

Punjab Government too had the info about the attack by RAW.

Let’s see!

 

[uday]

So let’s wait and see.

Punjab Government too had the info about the attack by RAW.

Let’s see!

yup! Let's see...