ISLAMABAD: Islamabad is set to take up with Kabul the issue of “171 RAW-trained Afghan terrorists” who intelligence agencies say sneaked into Pakistan two months ago and are yet to be traced. Intelligence agencies suspect that these Afghans were involved in the recent spate of suicide bombings in Pakistan.
Sources told Daily Times that intelligence agencies informed a meeting chaired by Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao on Wednesday that 25 of the 171 Afghans had links with RAW agents in Indian consulates at Jalalabad and Kandahar. The sources said that the Afghans had crossed the border via Torkham and Chaman two months ago and had spread in the settled areas of the NWFP, Sindh and Punjab for suicide bombings.
The sources said that the intelligence agencies ruled out Al Qaeda’s role in the recent terrorist incidents and held the RAW network responsible for the suicide bombings in Islamabad, NWFP and other parts of the country. The sources said that the government had decided to take up this issue with the Afghan government through diplomatic channels. They added that the Foreign Office representative present at the meeting had been asked to prepare a draft of all evidence of RAW activities for taking up the matter with the Afghan government.
Excerpted
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007/07/20/story_20-7-2007_pg7_5
Lal Masjid student says she will work for jihad
Friday, July 20, 2007
LAHORE: BBC Urdu has conducted the first in-depth interview with one of the Islamic militants who were holed up inside Lal Masjid in Islamabad. For six months, the mosque complex – which also housed a women’s madrassa and a children’s library – had been occupied by Islamic militants, among them children and several hundred women. One of them was an 18-year-old girl – the eldest of seven children from a village in the Punjab. She spoke to a reporter from BBC Urdu at her village this week.
Below are selected quotes from the interview.
On the thoughts of her family: I was not in contact with my family. The last time I contacted them, I told them that the army would not start an operation. They asked me to come back but I said I would never come back as I wished to be martyred. My brother said that he would force me to return, but I told him that he could be beaten up if he came near the madrassa. (She refused to leave the mosque but about 430 women and children left the mosque on July 4, after troops lay siege to the complex.)
A girl who came with us was taken home forcibly. She was crying and told the teacher that she didn’t want to go back. The teacher asked her to go back with her parents. We felt sorry for her as we came here with the passion of jihad and to preach Islam and now, because there was a problem, the girls had gone back. We did not appreciate the parents’ behaviour. The teacher said that no one was being stopped from going home and she asked parents to go and find their children to take them home. Very few girls left because they were afraid – those who left were either minors or they forced to leave by their parents.
As the assault by the Pakistani troops intensified: We were shocked that they cut off the electricity and also cut off the water and gas supply. What could we do? We were only praying to God to show them the right path. They were throwing teargas shells in large amounts. We were continually cleaning our eyes with salty water. Glass windows were breaking, doors were breaking. We couldn’t sleep, sometimes one would sleep for an hour, or half an hour, the others would stay awake. That way we managed. On July 10, the last day of the battle: We wanted to carry out suicide attacks. We asked the teacher to provide us with arms necessary for suicide attacks. She said that we didn’t have sufficient explosives. Yes, we had a passion and we were willing to go to all lengths. We had been told by our teacher that they had put explosives in the building and that we shouldn’t die in this manner, but come outside to face the bullets or even surrender. It was better to come out rather than die under the debris.
The final assault by the troops on the mosque: We came outside with our hands raised and saw that the doors were closed and they were on the roof. There was no way to leave. We told them that we had surrendered and they should not shoot at us. A policeman showed us the way out and finally, we were taken outside. They took us to another room and gave us food. We were crying a lot because the Qurans were burning inside Lal Masjid, which was on fire. We pleaded to them to let us take the Qurans. We were sad to see Qurans being burnt in front of our eyes. At sunset we were told that we were going to be sent home, and at night, we left the area.
On returning home to her village: After meeting my father, I was overcome by grief as I had gone hoping to be martyred, but came back alive. Now they’ve attacked the mosque and Jamia Hafsa. I wish the whole country has Lal mosques. I will work for jihad, and open a madrassa and train people for jihad.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\20\story_20-7-2007_pg7_8
Intelligence agencies to identify troublesome madrassas
Friday, July 20, 2007
ISLAMABAD: The government has directed the intelligence agencies to identify the madrassas involved in militancy and spreading hate material across the country to contain the recent wave of extremism. Sources told Daily Times on Thursday that there were about 17,000 madrassas in the country and the agencies would need four to six months to complete their task and submit a report to the Interior Ministry.
The sources said the agencies would investigate the madrassas’ links with militants and would check whether any madrassa was preparing children for militancy. The sources said the decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the National Security Council on June 4 with President General Pervez Musharraf in the chair. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao briefed the meeting about increasing militancy in the country.
The sources said that the Interior Ministry had a list of 20 madrassas that were involved in militancy across the country, but it was felt that the information gathered by the intelligence agencies and provincial home departments was incomplete and should be verified.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\20\story_20-7-2007_pg7_1
TORONTO • VisionTV says it will monitor one of its shows more closely after it broadcast a lecture by an Islamic preacher who said scripture requires Muslims to either fight jihad or finance it. The multi-faith channel, available in 7.8 million Canadian homes, said it took the precaution following a complaint about last Saturday's broadcast of a lecture by the Pakistani fundamentalist.
In the hour-long talk, Israr Ahmad said, "Jihad in the way of Allah, for the cause of Allah, can be pursued either with your financial resources or your bodily strength when you go to fight the enemy in the battlefield.
Excerpted
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=4737dd34-8de6-4f54-b376-3484f3b3a6f7&k=0
Algeria: Army 'arrests 65 militants linked to al-Qaeda'
Algiers, 20 July 2007 - Algerian security forces are conducting an ongoing military operation in northern Algeria which 65 militants allegedly linked to al-Qaeda have been arrested in the Maghreb region of north Africa. According to security officials quoted in local media, the Islamic militants were surrounded in the mountains of Yakouren, 150 kilometres from Algiers.
In an ongoing operation to rout terrorists, security forces were said to be pummelling the area with heavy artillery said the Algerian daily, El Chourouk. Of those arrested, three were reportedly recognised in an al-Qaeda video aired on the internet in late June.
Among the militants found in thick forest was Abdelqader Benhadj, was the son of the former second in command from the outlawed political organisation, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). His father Ali Benhadj, a former Islamic preacher and a founder of the FIS reportedly disappeared last year without a trace. Despite claims that the authorities had abducted him, local news sources said he recently appeared in a propaganda video prepared by a militant group.
Excerpted
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.1126200501