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Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

JK: Army Colonel, Major, Dy SP Killed In Gunfight With Terrorists

2023-09-14

[OneIndia] An Army Colonel commanding a battalion, a Major of a unit and a Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir
Kashmir

...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there....
Police were killed in a shootout with Lions of Islam in the higher reaches of Kokorenag area in the south of the valley, officials said here on Wednesday.

Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonack, and Deputy Superintendent Humayun Bhat were critically injured in the shootout with Lions of Islam that ensued in the Garol area of Anantnag district in the morning hours of Wednesday.

The officers gave up the ghost during the treatment, the officials said. Bhat, father of a two-month-old daughter and son of retired Inspector General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Ghulam Hasan Bhat, died due to heavy blood loss, they added.

The banned Resistance® Front, believed to be a shadow group of Pakistain-based Lashker-e-Taiba, has grabbed credit for the attack. Officials believe that it is the same set of Lions of Islam who had carried out the attack on army personnel on August 4 killing three jawans in the higher reaches of the Halan forest area of Kulgam district. The operation against the Lions of Islam began on Tuesday evening in Garol area but was called off during the night.

This morning, the hunt for the Lions of Islam resumed after information started trickling that they were spotted at a hideout, the officials said. Colonel Singh, leading his team from the front, attacked the terrorists. However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
he was critically injured in the bullets fired by the terrorists.

Singh, who belonged to 12th Sikh LI, was a recipient of Sena medal. Dhonack belonged to 15th Sikh LI. Dhonack and Bhat were also hit by bullets resulting in critical injuries, the officials said. Senior army and coppers, GoC 15 Corps Lt General Rajiv Ghai and including DGP Dilbag Singh rushed to the spot to assess the situation.

Earlier Jammu and Kashmir Police had posted on social media handle that an "encounter has started in #Kokernag area of #Anantnag. Officers from Army and JKP injured. Details shall follow". Kashmir-based XV corps also gave details that "based on specific intelligence on presence of Lions of Islam a Joint Operation was launched by #IndianArmy & @JmuKmrPolice on the intervening night of 12-13 Sep in Area Garol, Anantnag.

"Contact established and firefight ensued. Two Army personnel and one J&K Police personnel injured. Operation in progress." In the evening, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh, Additional Director General of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar along with other senior officers paid floral tributes to the slain DySP. The attack comes a day after an Army personnel and Kent, a six-year-old female Labrador of the Army's dog unit, were killed and three security personnel injured in the shootout in South of Pir Panjal at Rajouri in Jammu region.

Two bad boyz were potted in an encounter in the remote Narla village. Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah offered his condolences. "Terrible terrible news from J&K. An army colonel, a major and a J&K Police DYSP gave the ultimate sacrifice in an encounter in Kokernag area of South Kashmir today. DySP Humayan Bhat, Major Ashish Dhonack, and Colonel Manpreet Singh laid down their lives in an encounter with terrorists. May their souls rest in peace & may their loved ones find strength at this difficult time," he posted on X. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti while offering condolences to the bereaved families said there was no place for such acts of violence. People's Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone also condoled the death of the bravehearts. Paying tributes to the three fallen officers, BJP leader Altaf Thakur said the security forces are committee to root out terror from Jammu and Kashmir.

Link

India-Pakistan

Two LeT terrorists apprehended by villagers in Reasi — is accused BJP IT chief?

2022-07-04

Two terrorists apprehended by villagers in Reasi, DGP announces Rs 2 lakh reward: police | https://t.co/mbLMl4AZWf
— Greater Kashmir (@GreaterKashmir) July 3, 2022

Police on Sunday said that two LeT Lions of Islam were apprehended by villagers in Tuksan village in J&K's Reasi district for which DGP announced Rs 2 lakh reward for the villagers.

A cache of arms and ammunition had been recovered from the accused.

"Hats off to the courage of villagers of Tuksan, in #Reasi district . Two #Lions of Islam of LeT apprehended by villagers with weapons; 2AK #rifles, 7 #Grenades and a #Pistol. DGP announces #reward of Rs 2 lakhs for villagers, " a police front man said.

He identified the accused duo as Faizal Ahmed Dar son of Bashir Ahmed Dar of Pulwama and a "categorised terrorist" Talib Hussain son of Haider Shah of Rajauri.

Lashkar terrorist caught in Jammu was BJPs IT Cell Chief; war of words between BJP-Cong

[OneIndia] A political slugfest erupted between the BJP and the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir after a top Lashker-e-Taiba terrorist, overpowered by locals and handed over to the police, was reported to be an active member of the saffron party who was recently selected as its IT and social media cell in charge of the minority morcha in Jammu province.

As the news about villagers overpowering Talib Hussain Shah and handing him and his associate Faisal Ahmad Dar to the police surfaced, purported pictures of Shah with JK BJP chief Ravinder Raina and his participation in party functions emerged on social media.

The pictures included the one where Raina was presenting him a bouquet and a letter issued by party leader Sheikh Bashir, assigning him the responsibility of new IT and social media incharge of Minority Morcha (Jammu province) on May 9 While Raina dismissed the presence of Shah in his party as a "conspiracy hatched by Pakistan to target him and the party headquarters", Pradesh Congress Committee chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said the ruling party should answer to the nation the alleged presence of terrorists in their ranks and holding important party positions.

This is a second incident within two days where it has been alleged that terror accused had links with the BJP. The two people arrested in Udaipur were alleged by the Congress to have links with the Saffron party. Congress leader Pawan Khera on Saturday had cited Facebook posts showing accused Riyaz Akhtari with local BJP leaders and sought to know whether the Centre had moved quickly to transfer the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) due to this reason.

The charge was denied by the BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya saying the accused were not BJP members and said the opposition party was peddling in fake news. Shah and Dar were in possession of two AK Assault rifles, seven grenades, a pistol and a huge quantity of ammunition when they were confronted by Muslim villagers and disarmed before handing them over to police after tying them with ropes inside a dhok (mud-house) in the higher reaches of Gulab Garh.

While lauding the people for assisting police in capturing the two most-wanted LeT terrorists, JK BJP chief said "they were part of a conspiracy hatched from Pakistan to target him and the party headquarters".

"He introduced himself as a journalist and took my interviews several times at my party office sometime back. He developed close liaison with party activists and leaders after coming to our headquarters (Trikuta Nagar Jammu)," Raina told PTI. Raina claimed that he came to know from the security agencies that Shah was a mole planted by Pakistan-based terrorists to target BJP headquarters and the leadership including him.

"The arrest of the duo is a big success for the security forces as a major conspiracy of Pakistan has been thwarted. I also came to know that he had shared the pictures of the BJP headquarters with his handlers across the border," he said. Raina said terror organisations, frustrated by BJP's expansion in Jammu and Kashmir, have repeatedly threatened him over in the past many years and since they failed to target him, they hatched a conspiracy to plant their activist in the BJP to target him and other leaders of the party.

However, he said BJP is determined to wipe-out Pakistan-sponsored terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir and "we will not be cowed down by threats or conspiracies". The BJP chief claimed he was also told by the security agencies that Shah was keeping a close watch on his movement in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch and was passing the information to his handlers in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"I have full faith in the training, ability and courage of our police and security forces who are determined to root out terrorism. With the arrest of Shah and his associate, the Pakistani conspiracy to target me has failed," he said.

Reacting strongly, the Congress chief spokesperson said "this is for the first time that such a thing had happened (when an office bearer of a party is directly involved in terrorism." "BJP should answer to the nation about the presence of terrorists in their ranks holding important party positions. It is a very serious matter and a threat to the security of the nation," he said. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Director General of Police Dilbag Singh lauded the villagers for their courage and announced cash rewards for them.

Link

India-Pakistan

LeT leader Lakhvi arrested from Lahore on terrorism financing charge: CTD

2021-01-03

[Dawn] The Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday arrested Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi

...an asset of the Pak govt and a big turban in Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is actually a redundant statement. Zak was the criminal mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attack. Despite what India's provided there is not enough evidence in this world for a Pak court to convict him or even to keep him in the calaboose for very long...
, leader of proscribed organization Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
(LeT), in an intelligence-based operation from Lahore, a spokesperson for the CTD said in a statement.

Lakhvi was running a medical dispensary to collect and disburse funds for financing terrorism, it added.

That seems an awfully plebeian occupation for a jihadi org. Number 1.

"He & others also collected funds from this dispensary and used these funds for further terrorism financing. He also used these funds for personal expenses," the statement read.

A case of terrorism financing was registered against Lakhvi by the Punjab CTD at its Lahore station, it said, adding that his trial would be held before an anti-terrorism court in Lahore.

As leader of the banned bully boy group, Lakhvi is blamed by the United States and India for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

A UN Security Council sanctions committee says Lakhvi is LeT's chief of operations and accuses him of being involved in bully boy activity in a number of other regions and countries, including Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Indian authorities said the lone surviving gunman in the 2008 Mumbai siege, in which 166 people were killed, had told interrogators before his execution that the assailants were in touch with Lakhvi.

India has long called on Pakistain to bring Lakhvi to trial, but Islamabad says Delhi has not provided concrete evidence to try the LeT leader. He was first arrested in 2008 but was later released on bail.

Imran Gill, Lakhvi's lawyer, confirmed the arrest and told Rooters his case would be heard next week. He did not respond to further questions.

Another man that India says was the criminal mastermind of the Mumbai siege, Hafiz Saeed

...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat. He is periodically placed under house arrest so it looks like the govt is doing something. Once the heat is off they let him go....
, was arrested after being convicted by an anti-terrorism court on two charges of terrorism financing last year. Saeed denies involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

The Times of Israel adds:

Lakhvi was a prominent figure in Hafiz Saeed’s charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is believed to be a front for Lashker-e-Taiba.

Saeed, who has been designated a terrorist by the US Justice Department and has a $10 million bounty on his head, is presently serving multiple jail terms in Pakistan after being convicted in several cases in recent months. The Pakistani government has seized Saeed’s extensive network of mosques, schools, seminaries and charities and other assets in the country.

Link

India-Pakistan

J&K govt sanctions prosecution of Pakistani terrorist

2015-08-07

[ZEENEWS.INDIA] Jammu and Kashmire government has sanctioned prosecution of captured Pak terrorist Mohammed Naved for waging war against the state.

The terrorist was captured alive yesterday after the Udhampur attack in which two heavily-armed snuffies believed to be from Pakistain ambushed a convoy of BSF personnel and opened fire.

Two constables and a bully boy were killed while another terrorist was caught alive in a manner identical to the nabbing of 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again...
the National Investigation Agency (NIA) today took over the case.

They said that Naved had undergone training in two different modules with Lashker-e-Taiba terror group, as per PTI.

A team of NIA, a central probe agency created after the 2008 Mumbai attack, headed by Inspector General Sanjeev Kumar Singh, has been camping in Jammu since yesterday and has visited the site of the encounter, official sources said.

A case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and various sections of Indian Penal Code has been registered against the locked away
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
Lashker-e-Taiba terrorist Mohammed Naved Yakub, who has claimed that he hailed from Faislabad in Pakistain.

His accomplice, identified by him as Noman alias Momin, was killed in retaliatory firing by BSF.

Naved, who remained composed during the night-long interrogation, told sleuths that he had undergone two training modules--'Daur-e-Aam' and 'Daura-e-Khas' - of Lashker-e-Taiba terror group.

While the first module teaches the terror cadre of physical fitness, mountaineering and using of small arms, in the second they are trained in assault rifles and manufacture of small explosives.

In his early 20s, Naved disclosed that he had entered into India through Baramulla in North Kashmire area by cutting the fencing. During interrogation, he said that he had stayed at Tangmarg and Baba Reshi and shifted their base to Awantipura-Pulwama in South Kashmire where he remained inside a cave located on a hill side.

The group split into two and he along with Noman moved to Kulgam in South Kashmire from where they boarded a truck to Jammu yesterday. They got down at Udhampur after staying at Patnitop for night.

Naved will be taken to all the places in which he had claimed to have stayed after infiltrating from across the border.

Link

India-Pakistan

Udhampur terror attack: NIA takes over probe, Pakistani terrorist quizzed

2015-08-07

[ZEENEWS.INDIA] In the Udhampur attack, two heavily-armed turbans believed to be from Pakistain ambushed a convoy of BSF personnel and opened fire in which two constables and a murderous Moslem were killed while another terrorist was caught alive in a manner identical to the nabbing of 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab.

NIA takes over probe

A team of NIA, a central probe agency created after the 2008 Mumbai attack, headed by Inspector General Sanjeev Kumar Singh, has been camping in Jammu since yesterday and has visited the site of the encounter, official sources said, as per PTI.

A case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and various sections of Indian Penal Code has been registered against the nabbed
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
LeT terrorist Mohammed Naved Yakub, who has claimed that he hailed from Faislabad in Pakistain.

His accomplice, identified by him as Noman alias Momin, was killed in retaliatory firing by BSF.

Naved, who remained composed during the night-long interrogation, told sleuths that he had undergone two training modules--'Daur-e-Aam' and 'Daura-e-Khas' - of Lashker-e-Taiba terror group.

India condemns attack:

On the other hand, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament today, "We strongly condemn the attack and the persistent attempts by turbans from across the border to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmire", as per IANS.

Rajnath Singh added that government was committed to combating terrorism with a strong resolve.

India is expected to take up strongly with Islamabad the terror attacks at Udhampur and earlier in Gurdaspur in Punjab, which left seven people dead, when the National Security Advisers of India and Pakistain meet as scheduled later this month.

Pakistain in denial mode

Meanwhile,
...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow...
Pakistain was today in denial mode over assertions from India that the terrorist caught alive in Udhampur yesterday was a Pak national and asked New Delhi not to make "accusations" without proof.

Foreign Office Spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said at his weekly briefing that he had seen media reports that "a person has been arrested in India and is being projected as Pakistain national".

"I will not comment on media reports. We expect Indian authorities to share necessary information about him with us to enable verification of his national status," Khalilullah said reacting to statements from India on the Pak origins of Mohammed Naved Yakub.

"We have said many times that making immediate accusations on Pakistain is not correct. These things should be based on facts. We expect that whenever Pakistain is being accused of something, it shall be accompanied by concrete evidence," he added.

Link

Bangladesh

3 'LeT men' captured

2010-10-05

[Bangla Daily Star] The Detective Branch (DB) of police yesterday claimed to have jugged Pakistain-based Islamic exemplar group Lashker-e-Taiba's coordinator in Bangladesh and two of his Pak associates.

The arrestees are LeT's Bangladesh coordinator Khurram alias Mohammad Salem, 42, and his associates Abdul Malek, 31, and Imran, 31. All the three Pak nationals were jugged at a hotel in the capital on Saturday.

Acting on a tip off, DB police raided the hotel and jugged the three with 160 cartons of foreign cigarettes and 153 bottles of exotic perfume, said Deputy Commissioner (DC) Monirul Islam of DB during a press briefing at his office.

The DC said Khurram's name emerged as the coordinator of India and Bangladesh chapters when Indian nationals Mufti Obaidullah and Maulana Emadullah and Pak national Sufian Ajhari were jugged here and interrogated for their involvement with LeT.

DB officials claimed that Khurram had also been serving the banned Islamic exemplar outfits Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-islami (Huji).

In the face of frequent arrests in Bangladesh, the LeT operatives have adopted the method of using several names and passports for each individual, said the DC adding, that the LeT men also use Bangladeshi passports.

He said although Khurram has Bangladeshi passport, he used his Pak one this time. According to his seized passport, Khurram visited the country 11 times this year so far.

Asked, the DC said the immigration cannot identify a person who use different names and passports.

He said the LeT operatives use the country as a transit for counterfeit money business although they could not establish an LeT unit in the country. However,
The infamous However...
their effort to recruit operatives from here is on, added the DC.

DC Monirul Islam said that so far they have jugged three Pak and three Indian LeT adherents and their several Bangladeshi aides.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan bans JuD, LeT, JeM

2009-08-06

The Pakistan government has banned 25 religious and other organisations, including the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashker-e-Taiba, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry presented a list of the banned organisations in the National Assembly or lower house of parliament. It also said the Sunni Tehrik had been put on a watch list.

Among the organisations included in the list of outlawed groups are JuD, LeT, JeM, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muahammadi, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Al-Akhtar Trust, Al-Rasheed Trust, Tehreek-e-Islami, Islamic Students Movement, Khair-un-Nisa International Trust, Islami Tehreek-e-Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Islam, Balochistan Liberation Army, Jamiat-un-Nisar, Khadam Islam and Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan.

A majority of the groups have been linked to terrorist attacks and suicide bombings in Pakistan. India has blamed the JuD, LeT and JeM for several attacks on its soil, including the Mumbai attacks and the 2001 assault on the Indian parliament.

Pakistan banned the JuD after the UN Security Council declared it a front for the LeT in December last year. The LeT and JeM were banned by the country in 2002.

Responding to a question in the National Assembly, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the federal government had banned the 25 organisations and entities under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.

Three of the banned organizations -- JuD, Al-Akhtar Trust and Al-Rasheed Trust -- had been included in the UN Security Council resolution no 1267, he said.

Law enforcement agencies closely monitor the activities of these groups and "stern action is taken against those which indulge in objectionable activities," Malik said.

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India-Pakistan

Madni reveals LeT training of Maoists

2009-06-19

Investigators on Friday told a Delhi court that Mohammad Omar Madni, a suspected militant, has disclosed links between Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashker-e-Taiba and Maoists in Jharkhand. "He (Madni) revealed that LeT was acting in coordination with CPI (Maoists) in Jharkhand. He has acted as conduit for LeT and provided training to recruits in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and sent them to India to carry out terror strikes," the public prosecutor told the court which extended the police remand of Madni for seven days.

Delhi Police, which is interrogating Madni, contended that his custodial quizzing was necessary to ascertain his emails details and bank account which revealed transactions to the tune of Rs 25 lakh. Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Yaduvanshi allowed the plea of the police, which has arrested the militant under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

50-year-old Madni, a resident of Bihar who acquired Nepalese citizenship, was arrested on June 4 from near Qutub Minar area in South Delhi and produced before the court after the completion of 14 days police custody. The investigating agency sought police remand of Madni under the recent amendments of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act which empowers them to interrogate an accused in custody for 30 days.

Bakshish Singh, who was appointed amicus curiae, opposed the plea of the police, saying they had already been provided with enough time to interrogate the accused.

Mohd Omar Madni, a suspected operative of Lashkar-e-Taiba told the court that he repented his "acts" and wanted to spend his life behind bars. "I have committed some mistakes and I want to remain in jail," Madni told the court in Hindi with folded hands.

His remarks came after Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Yaduvanshi asked him whether he wanted to say something on the plea of investigators seeking extension of his custodial interrogation. His police custody was extended by the court for more seven days.

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India-Pakistan

Top Lashkar, Jaish militants gunned down in J&K

2009-03-27

Two top militants, including a self-styled district commander of Lashker-e-Taiba (LET) outfit hailing from Pakistan, were killed in
separate gunbattles in Jammu and Kashmir.

LeT commander Abdullah Uni, a resident of Pakistan, was killed in an encounter with troops of 28 Rashtriya Rifles, Nine Para and special operations group of local police at Dorusa-Lolab in Kupwara district on Wednesday night, a defence spokesperson said on Thursday. One of the security personnel received splinter injuries in the operation which started on Tuesday when the joint search party cordoned off the area to flush out the hiding militants.

In another fierce encounter, a self-styled divisional commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) outfit Waseem Bilal was killed in the forest area of Dardpora-Arin in Bandipora district. The encounter broke out on Wednesday afternoon and continued till this morning, officials said adding an AK assault rifle, an under barrel grenade launcher with three shells, 90 AK rounds and five SIM cards were recovered from the possession of the slain militant.

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India-Pakistan

Captured terrorist Kasab my son, says father in Pakistan

2008-12-12

Though Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa may disown him, the father of the lone Pakistani gunman arrested for the Mumbai terror attacks has admitted that the young man whose picture was beamed by media across the world, is his son.

Amir Kasab, the father of Ajmal Amir Iman alias Ajmal Kasab, broke down as he made the admission to the influential Dawn newspaper in the courtyard of his house in Faridkot, a village of about 2,500 people in Okara district of Punjab province.

"I was in denial for the first couple of days, saying to myself it could not have been my son... Now I have accepted it. This is the truth. I have seen the picture in the newspaper. This is my son Ajmal," Amir said in his first interview to the media since his son's arrest.

Britain's Observer newspaper and BBC had earlier reported that Iman belonged to Faridkot and had joined the Lashker-e-Taiba some time ago.

The Observer's correspondent had located Iman's home and got hold of the voters' roll which had the names of his parents Amir Kasab and Noor as well as the numbers on their national identity cards.

Reports had said that Iman left home as a frustrated teenager about four years ago and went to Lahore in search of a job. After a brush with crime in that city, he reportedly joined the LeT.

Amir Kasab, a father of three sons and two daughters, said his son disappeared from home four years ago. "He had asked me for new clothes on Eid that I couldn't provide him. He got angry and left," he said.

As Amir was talking to the Dawn's correspondents, Iman's two sisters and a younger brother stood by. Their mother, wrapped in a 'chador', lay on a nearby charpoy.

"Her trance was broken as the small picture of Ajmal lying in a Mumbai hospital was shown around. They appeared to have identified their son. The mother shrunk back in her chador but the father said he had no problem in talking about the subject," the newspaper reported.

Amir said he had settled in Faridkot after arriving from the nearby Haveli Lakha many years ago. He owned the house the family lived in and made a living by selling 'pakoras' in the streets of the village.

He pointed to a hand-cart in one corner of the courtyard and said, "This is all I have. I shifted back to the village after doing the same job in Lahore.

"My eldest son, Afzal, is also back after a stint in Lahore. He is out working in the fields."

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India-Pakistan

US suspects ISI over Mumbai attacks

2008-12-09

US suspects Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence may have shared sensitive information with the group allegedly involved in Mumbai raids. The New York Times on Monday quoted several unnamed senior US officials as saying that the ISI shared intelligence and provided protection for Lashker-e-Taiba>Lashker-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant group, allegedly involved in the coordinated terrorist attacks on India's port city of Mumbai.

They also added that investigators are now focusing on one Lashkar leader they believe is a main liaison with the Pakistani spy service and a mastermind of the attacks.

American and Indian authorities believe that one senior Lashkar commander in particular, Zarrar Shah, is one of the group's primary links to the ISI. "He's a central character in this plot," an American official said.

Indian Investigators are also examining whether Shah, a communications specialist, helped plan and carry out the terror attacks in Mumbai, according to the newspaper.

The US officials also emphasized that the intelligence services are reassessing their view of Lashkar and believe it to be more capable and a greater threat than they had previously recognized.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has denied any government connection to the siege on Nov. 26-29, in which 10 gunmen targeted Mumbai's luxurious hotels and tourist attractions with automatic weapons and hand grenades in a 60-hour terror spree, killing nearly 200 people and injuring almost 300.

A war of words erupted when India pointed the finger at Pakistan and senior Indian officials and intelligence reports suggested the attacks were carried out by Pakistan-based militants. Islamabad has said it would act on any evidence that is presented to it and continues to express skepticism of Pakistani involvement.

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India-Pakistan

Pak agrees to 48-hour timetable for action against LeT: Report

2008-12-06

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has agreed to a 48-hour timetable set by India and the US to formulate a plan to act against Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) and to arrest at least three Pakistanis who Indian authorities say are linked to the Mumbai terrorist assaults, the Washington Post reported citing a high-ranking Pakistani official.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities, said India had also asked Pakistan to arrest and hand over LeT commander Zaki ur-Rehman Lakhwi and the former director of Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Hamid Gul, in connection with the investigation, the Post said on Saturday.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who has expressed his country's solidarity with India, is expected to review plans by his nation's top military and intelligence officials and follow through on India's demands, the official was quoted as saying.

"The next 48 hours are critical," the Pakistani official added.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the daily said, had urged Pakistan to hand over Yusuf Muzammil, an LeT leader whom Indian and US investigators have identified as the mastermind behind the attacks, and other suspects.

The Post cited an unnamed high-level source in the Indian government as saying India had "clear and incontrovertible proof" that the Pakistan-based LeT planned the attacks and that the group's leaders were trained and supported by ISI.

"We have the names of the handlers. And we know that there is a close relationship between the Lashker and the ISI," the source told the Post.

US intelligence officials, however, were more cautious in their interpretation of the evidence, the US daily said.

Although US analysts acknowledged historical ties between Lashkar and ISI as well as more recent contacts between militants and Pakistani intelligence officers, they said they were not convinced that Pakistan supported the attacks in any significant way.

"Even if there were contacts between ISI and LeT, it's not the same as saying there was ISI support," it quoted an unnamed US counter-terrorism official as saying.

The official, the Post said, would not dismiss the possibility that further evidence would reveal active ISI involvement but said: "The evidence we've seen so far does not get you there."

Indian officials have said the sole surviving gunman in the attacks, who goes by the alias Muhammad Ajmal Kasav, 21, mentioned Lakhwi during police questioning. Police had earlier identified the gunman as Ajmal Amir Kasab.

The Wall Street Journal said Western intelligence officials have been quietly mediating between India and Pakistan. The CIA "is playing a huge role in this and trying to work behind the scenes and get past the emotion", it said citing a former senior intelligence official.

Referring to ISI, the official said, "The ISI and the Pakistani military do not ever want to kowtow to the Indians." Still, the official said, "They're working on some sort of scenario" where people Indian authorities are seeking would be detained and questioned.

Another Western official cited by the Journal said Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari would like to use the attacks as "an opportunity to get rid of some bad apples".

However, the official said, it would be difficult for him to marshal support from the ISI or military for rounding up any alleged culprits.

US and other Western officials have backed India's account of the roots of the Mumbai attacks, to a point. "When it comes to the connections with Lashker, that's absolutely true," a counter-terrorism official was quoted as saying. But Kasab's statements will take time to verify, he added.

Indian police have a sample of Kasab's DNA that they plan to provide to the FBI, which would check whether he is from the family he claims as his own in Faridkot village, the Journal said. The bureau would need to compare it with the DNA of any family member.

The New York Times also cited a senior American counter-terrorism official as saying it was highly likely that local accomplices were involved.

"They couldn't have gotten to the places they did without local help," the unnamed official cited by the Times said. "They just moved too quickly. They had to have had more assistance on the ground."

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