The Hindu : Arrests: focus on terror network

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 22, 2002

International

International

Arrests: focus on terror network

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Sept. 20 . Pakistan today announced arrest of five more suspected militants allegedly involved in the blast outside the United States Karachi Consulate in June and an attempt on the life of the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, in April. The number of suspected militants picked up by the Karachi police in the last few days has now gone up to 22. All the arrested are Pakistanis and are members of a splinter group of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen AlAalmi. On the basis of the information provided by the detained militants, the police in the port city are conducting more raids.

The arrests and recovery of large quantity of arms and ammunition from them has brought to fore the dangerous terror network in Karachi. Though the Pakistan government believes that it has "broken the backbone" of the militants, independent observers believe that it is early to jump to any conclusion.

On Friday a Pakistani court in Karachi had remanded to custody till October 2 the seven militants arrested in connection with a car bomb attack on the US consulate in Karachi that killed 12 people. Giving the details of the arrests, the Karachi police chief had described them as "most wanted terrorists''.

The mastermind of the June 12 blast is also a suspect in the suicide bombing that killed 11 French naval engineers and three Pakistanis in Karachi on May 8.

A Kalashnikov rifle was seized from accused Sharib, and one Kalashnikov and 30 hand grenades were seized from accused Zubair. Mohammed Shamim, another Al-Aalmi activist, who was arrested with 25 rocket shells.

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