M A I N   N E W S

3 civilians die in IED blast
10 exfiltrators held along LoC
Tribune News Service and PTI

The body of one of the three blast victims and wailing relatives. Policemen inspects the scene of a powerful blast at Awantipora, 29 km from Srinagar, on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway on Tuesday. — PTI photos

Srinagar, April 16
Three civilians were killed and 25 others, including seven Army personnel, were injured in an IED explosion targeted at an Army convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway at Awantipora, 30 km south of here, this morning, even as the BSF foiled an exfiltration bid along the LoC.

The police said the IED explosion was triggered by militants near a furniture shop in the main market of Awantipora in Pulwama district at 9.30 a.m.

The explosion, targeted at the Jammu-bound Army convoy, caused damage to one of the Army vehicles. Eighteen civilians were injured in the blast. There were also reports of cross-firing between militants and the Army following the explosion. Elsewhere in the valley three militants were killed in an encounter at Laroo Jagir, near Awantipora, in Pulwama district yesterday.

Later, when security personnel went to the site of the encounter, explosive devices tied to the militants’ bodies went off. At least 33 security personnel were injured, including two Deputy Commandants of the BSF and a DSP of the Jammu and Kashmir police. A BSF jawan and a police constable succumbed to their injuries while being shifted to hospital.

Meanwhile, militants shot dead a released militant, Setha Waza, at Maisuma in Lal Chowk area here this morning.

Four security personnel were injured when their party was ambushed by militants in Kandimarg area of Anantnag district this morning.

The police safely defused an IED on the Khannabal-Pahalgam road at Anantnag today.

Meanwhile, the BSF apprehended 10 ex-filtrators along the LoC in Uri sector of Baramula district yesterday. They are in the age group of 18 to 20 years and belong to Zainagir area, according to reports.

Jaish has Rs 900 in bank, Harkat Rs 2,741
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 16
Imagine Dr Ayman Mohammad Rabie El Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s most trusted man and “spiritual adviser” and the widely perceived number two man in Al-Qaida’s hierarchy, having a bank balance in Pakistan of $ 252.43.

Imagine terrorist outfits like the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Harkat-ul Mujahideen (HuM) having a bank balance of Rs 900 and Rs 2741.96, respectively.

Believe it or not, but it is true. The bank accounts of 50 Afghan bodies, including terrorist outfits, which were ordered frozen much after September 11 terror attacks on the USA, have been virtually swept clean but still have nearly Rs one crore.

But the catch is that the Pakistan Government gave them ample time and opportunity to virtually broom the accounts clean, demonstrating yet another time how key officials in Islamabad are hand in glove with the jihadi and fundamentalist elements within Pakistan.

When post-September 11 and later in his much-hyped January 12 speech Pakistan’s military ruler Pervez Musharraf declared a war against jihadis and fundamentalists, he was actually running with the hare and hunting with the hound.

It was in the second week of September 2001 that the Pakistan Government decided to support the US-led international coalition against terrorism but it was only recently that the Musharraf regime, under pressure from the FBI, had frozen the accounts of 50 Afghan organisations and individuals.

According to well-placed sources here, the following are some details of the bank balance of the 50 Afghan bodies: MCB, Jaish-e-Mohammad (Rs 900), MCB, Harkat-ul Mujahideen (Rs 2741.96), Dr Ayman Mohammad Rabie El Zawahiri ($ 252.43), Afghan National Bank (Nil), Ariana Afghan Airlines ($ 6997.21), ANZ, Afghan National Bank (Rs 5761), ANZ, Afghanistan National Bank (Pak) Ltd (Rs 23,357), Askari Bank, Afghan Development Asssociation (Nil) and Afghanistan National Bank (Pak) (Rs 550). However, in cases where the FBI breathed down the neck of the Pakistani authorities, the deposits were substantial.

The bank account of M. Farooq, the Amir of Harkat-ul Mujahideen had Rs 3.9 million, while the Habib Bank, Al-Rasheed Trust had Rs 2.7 million in their bank balances, respectively.