Lahore, June 13
Investigations into some recent incidents of violence in Pakistan have revealed that the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Al-Omer, two militant Kashmiri groups, are playing Al-Qaida’s agents in this country, according to senior police sources.
Sources say, the Karachi police has found evidence that indicates a link between the activists of Al-Qaida, JeM and Al-Omer. The police says it has evidence to suggest that these groups carried out the Sheraton suicide bombing, the Islamabad church attack, the murder of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl and the rocket attacks on the American bases in Sindh.
“We have arrested people carrying out monetary transactions on behalf of Al-Qaida and passing it on to Jaish activists. Al-Qaida also provided training to the activists of JeM to carry out attacks on the Islamabad church and the Sheraton hotel,” a police official said requesting anonymity. The terrorists spent at least Pak Rs 3 million to carry out these two attacks, he added.
The activists of JeM and Al-Omer developed acquaintance with Al-Qaida members during their training in Afghanistan. Shaikh Omer and Qari Asad were their main instructors.
According to police officials, it was JeM that carried out rocket attacks targeting the installations housing either foreigners or members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, such as Jacobabad air base, Karachi airport and Hotel Midway.
The police found out that all the rockets were of the same type and were fired from improvised launchers. Because of defective weapons and the inexperience of the users, they missed the targets. These rockets are of the same type used by Al-Qaida in Afghanistan against US bases, the police said.
In the Daniel Pearl case, the police sources say, it was the handiwork of the Al-Omer group, trained by Al-Qaida in Afghanistan. The group is now active in India-administered Kashmir. The police says the madarsa plot, where Daniel Pearl was believed to be buried, is also the property of an Arab of Saudi origin. The madarsa was operated by banned Al-Rashid Trust.
Police officers say that these militant groups, originally established to wage jehad in Kashmir, have gone “haywire” because they believed that Islamabad had betrayed them by siding with the USA against the Taliban. In retaliation, they have started launching attacks against foreigners to embarrass Islamabad.
JeM is led by Maulana
Masood Azhar, who was released from an Indian jail on the demand of Indian plane highjackers.
