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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
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			<title>Family seek proof of Ilyas Kashmiri’s death</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/184669/family-seek-proof-of-ilyas-kashmiri%e2%80%99s-death</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/184669/family-seek-proof-of-ilyas-kashmiri%e2%80%99s-death#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jun 11 05:40:26 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Kashmiri's family say they have not seen him in six years. Nor has he sent money.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Four days after reports of Ilyas Kashmiri's death emerged, the reputed al Qaeda commander's family say they know nothing about his fate and nor do the intelligence agents who visit.

Thathi, the home village of al Qaeda's alleged military kingpin, is an arduous six-hour drive from Islamabad, pushing ever higher into the foothills of the Himalayas, carpeted in lush grass but remote and depressingly poor.

Kashmiri's family say they have not seen him in six years. Nor has he sent money. Elder brother Chaudhry Asghar speaks almost angrily about the burden of having to care for Kashmiri's frail wife and four growing children.

"We don't believe he's dead," said the 50-year-old, speaking to AFP at a village shop and refusing to let reporters visit Kashmiri's house or meet the rest of the family until the situation becomes "clearer".

But the humble mud building can be seen in the distance, sitting on the bank of a stream in front of a small mosque and madrassa that Kashmiri built.

It is here that his eldest son Khalid Ilyas, 18, daughter Maryam, 15, sons Osama 12 and Huzaifa, eight, live with their mother, not far from the Line of Control between Pakistani and Indian Kashmir.

Thathi is a place where most people are poor, and depend on agriculture, including cattle. Others join the army and send their salaries home.

There are reports that Kashmiri was himself a Pakistani-trained commando before he veered towards the path of holy war against India and then later fell in with Taliban and Al-Qaeda on the western border with Afghanistan.

"We haven't seen his body or any part of his body and unless we get some evidence we can't accept he's dead. We want solid proof," said Asghar.

Clerics say Islam requires Kashmiri's associates to inform his family in the event of his death, but Asghar says nobody has contacted them.

"So far we have no official confirmation of his death. Even intelligence officials have been coming, asking if we've received any information.

"We tell them we have no information... If he has been killed in jihad (holy war) we'd appreciate it because it would be martyrdom."

Years ago, Kashmiri used to visit once in a while, stay a couple of days and disappear. But Asghar has not seen his brother since 2005, when he got out of prison. The two argued and Kashmiri left.

"We told him to stop his activities and start family life. He didn't agree. He insisted he'd fight US troops in Afghanistan," says Asghar.

"I left the village, hoping he'd decide to stay. But he left anyway, telling his children 'I don't care if you live or die. I must continue my mission.'"

He says Kashmiri never sent money to his family, who suffer as a result. "Sometimes they have to go to school hungry and weeping," he said of his niece and nephews, while the militant's sick wife looks old beyond her years.

But however upset he might be with his brother, Asghar cannot believe that he is guilty as charged of attacks on the military in Pakistan.

"He told me he was dead against any terrorist act in Pakistan. He loved Pakistan and its army... He always said that he'd like his son to join the army as a commissioned officer."

Schoolteacher Mohammed Razaq, 55, who says he taught maths to the teenage Kashmiri, remembers him as "an obedient student, a good athlete and an excellent debater" with an interest in politics.

"But then he veered towards jihad. He truly loved Pakistan. I don't know anything about al Qaeda or Taliban," he said.]]>
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			<title>Four held for alleged links with Ilyas Kashmiri</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/184061/four-nabbed-for-alleged-contact-with-ilyas-kashmiri</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/184061/four-nabbed-for-alleged-contact-with-ilyas-kashmiri#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jun 11 04:41:37 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[express]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Intelligence agencies raid house in Millat, arrest four and recover important documents.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Four people were arrested in Faisalabad on Tuesday for alleged links with Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) leader Ilyas Kashmiri, who is believed killed in a US drone attack in South Waziristan on June 3.


Sources said a special team of intelligence agencies raided a house in Faisalabad’s Millat Town on Sargodha Road. Manan Pathan and three of his nephews, later identified as Adil, Farooq and Usman, were arrested on suspicion of having contacts with Kashmiri.

Sources revealed that Pathan had come to visit his nephews two months ago and started living with them.

Important documents and maps were also recovered from the house, which was later sealed by the police.

Sources claimed that all the four have been shifted to an undisclosed location outside Faisalabad for further interrogation.

Kashmiri, 47, was chief of the dreaded 313 Brigade of HJUI – a militant group described by the US as an operational wing of al Qaeda. The 313 Brigade is widely believed to have masterminded the May 22 attack on PNS Mehran.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Confirming Kashmiri’s death: US uncertainty reigns as drone strikes continue</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/183895/confirming-kashmiri%e2%80%99s-death-us-uncertainty-reigns-as-drone-strikes-continue</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/183895/confirming-kashmiri%e2%80%99s-death-us-uncertainty-reigns-as-drone-strikes-continue#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jun 11 02:31:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[manzoor.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=183895</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[At least 18 killed in three US missile attacks in South Waziristan.]]>
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				<![CDATA[As fresh doubts emerged on whether dreaded militant commander Ilyas Kashmiri had been killed in a US drone strike last week in South Waziristan, the tribal region continued to be pounded by pilotless US aircraft – with as many as three strikes being reported on Monday.


At least 18 militants are said to have been killed in the blitz.

First, the Pentagon declared that it has ‘no confirmation’ of most-wanted militant Ilyas Kashmiri’s death in a drone strike on Friday.

“We have no confirmation that he’s dead,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters during an off-camera daily briefing when asked about news reports coming from Pakistan that Kashmiri, the chief of the dreaded 313 Brigade of the Harkatul Jihad al Islami, which has been blamed for a number of high-profile terror strikes in Pakistan, has been killed.

“The Department of Defence has no confirmation (on the death of Kashmiri),” he noted.

The sentiment was echoed by another official of the Department of Defence while speaking to AFP in Kabul. He requested not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

However, ABC News, quoting US intelligence officials, later said that Kashmiri’s death had been confirmed.

Two senior US officials told ABC News Kashmiri was among the dead, but before the attack US intelligence officials did not know whether Kashmiri would be at the target location – only that some members of his group were sleeping outside in an orchard.

The officials would not discuss how they confirmed  Kashmiri was among the more than a dozen people who perished in the strike.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik had earlier said on Sunday that he was “98 per cent” sure that Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed in a US drone attack before midnight on Friday in South Waziristan.

This is not the first time that controversy has surrounded the death of the hardened militant. Kashmiri had already been declared dead a few years ago by officials, only to reemerge.

Monday’s strikes

A volley of fresh strikes by CIA-operated pilot-less aircraft took place around Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan Agency, on Monday.

The first two attacks targeted a suspected militants’ compound and a vehicle in Bermal sub-division.

“First, a US drone fired missiles at a house belonging to a local tribesman, Zari Khan Shamshikhel, in the Shalam Raghzai area, killing five people,” an official source told The Express Tribune. He said all the dead were ‘Punjabi Taliban.’ “Then another pilot-less aircraft targeted another compound in the Wacha Dana area, killing eight militants,” the source said. “The area is some two kilometres away from the site of the first attack.”

The third attack took place eight hours later in the Dray Nishtar area, which lies on the border with North Waziristan at 10:45 am, about 30 kilometres from the site of the other two raids.

“A US drone fired two missiles on a vehicle (believed to be carrying) militants, killing three insurgents,” a senior security official told AFP. He added that the dead were ‘Punjabi Taliban’ from the group of Hafiz Gul Bahadar group, which is based in North Waziristan Agency.

Security officials said that five militants of central Asian origin and eight Punjabi militants were among those killed in the three strikes.

‘Revenge strikes’

Meanwhile, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an outlawed conglomerate of militant outfits, said they have delivered on threats to avenge the killing of their ideological chief Osama bin Laden – and promised more is to come.

In a video message to Reuters, Omar Khalid Khorasani, TTP commander in Mohmand Agency, said that they struck back to avenge the terror icon’s killing – claiming responsibility for incidents in which militants bombed an American consulate convoy in Peshawar, laid siege to PNS Mehran in Karachi and blew up paramilitary cadets in Pakistan in Shabqadar.

“These attacks were just a part of our revenge. God willing, the world will see how we avenge Osama bin Laden’s martyrdom,” he told Reuters in a video message. “We have networks in several countries outside Pakistan.”

The video starts with him and some associates sitting on the floor of a mud-walled house, eating mango slices and joking. Then he turns serious and speaks about the TTP’s intentions.

“Our war against America is continuing inside and outside of Pakistan. When we launch attacks, it will prove that we can hit American targets outside Pakistan,” said Khorasani.

Sitting with a pistol strapped to his waist and flanked by two of his comrades with AK-47 assault rifles, Khorasani said the death of Bin Laden would not demoralise the Taliban. It had in fact, injected a ‘new courage’ into its fighters, said Khorasani.

“The ideology given to us by Osama bin Laden and the spirit and courage that he gave to us to fight infidels of the world is alive,” said Khorasani. He described Ayman al-Zawahri as the Pakistani Taliban’s ‘chief and supreme leader’.

While the US has been trying to engage the Taliban in dialogue to restore peace in Afghanistan, Khorasani said, “Even if some rapprochement is reached in Afghanistan, our ideology, aim and objective is to change the system in Pakistan.”

With additional input from wires

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Kashmiri planned reprisal attacks for Osama’s death</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/183308/kashmiri-planned-reprisal-attacks-for-osama%e2%80%99s-death</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/183308/kashmiri-planned-reprisal-attacks-for-osama%e2%80%99s-death#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jun 11 02:41:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=183308</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Militant leader had convened a gathering in North Waziristan to assign Taliban commanders territories to target.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Ilyas Kashmiri, one of the most active al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan, had convened a special meeting in the Data Khel area of North Waziristan Agency a week ago to constitute a special squad that would be tasked with avenging the death of Osama bin Laden.


According to intelligence reports seen by The Express Tribune, the head of the fearsome 313 Brigade of the Harkatul Jihad al Islami called a meeting of several Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commanders to create the “Laskhar-e-Osama” which would be tasked with carrying out suicide bombings throughout Pakistan, including some high-profile targets. Kashmiri was reportedly killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan on Friday.

Besides Kashmiri, TTP commanders Asmatullah Maavia, Amjad Farooqui, and Badar Mansoor, among others,  attended the meeting. The three commanders were assigned territories to conduct bombings in. Mansoor was tasked with targeting Lahore and southern Punjab, while Farooq was told to carry out attacks in Islamabad and Azad Kashmir.

Intelligence agencies were able to collect information about the secret meeting, according to sources familiar with the matter, adding that they were also told that Kashmiri had moved his location away from Data Khel. Information about possible attacks has been forwarded to law-enforcement agencies throughout the country. Security officials have been told to beef up protective arrangements at the possible target sites.

Among the attacks planned by the group were strikes against diplomats and embassies in Pakistan, including those from the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The militants reportedly planned to target the US embassy in Islamabad with high explosives.

Other plans included procuring large quantities of poison, presumably to be mixed with food supplies for Nato troops that pass through Pakistani territory. The plan called for abducting the drivers of Nato supply trucks and then mixing the poison in with food supplies.

Among the Pakistani targets on the militants’ list were high-profile security officials and the Pakistan Ordnance Factories in Wah, the nation’s leading production facility for ammunition. Visiting Chinese dignitaries were also reported to be targets. Possible means of delivering explosives included motorcycle rickshaws.

Two other intelligence reports reveal that Saudi and UAE diplomats have come under threat in recent weeks. In particular, one report stated that “Saudi diplomats in Islamabad are very much concerned about their security,” fearing that they may be targeted by al Qaeda militants seeking to avenge Bin Laden’s death, who was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1994.

Another report stated that “The UAE Embassy in Islamabad has received threats from some unknown miscreants. Further details are not yet available.”

In what appears to be an attempt to carry out a sustained campaign against the Pakistani military, intelligence reports indicate that militant groups based out of Orakzai Agency plan to attack other military and important civilian installations across the country. Possible targets mentioned in the report include the Karachi port, the Karachi airport, oil terminals and naval bases throughout the country.

Ilyas Kashmiri was one of the most feared militants in Pakistan. He had started off as a member of Harkatul Mujahideen before branching off to create his own Harkatul Jihad al- Islami (HuJI). He also created the feared 313 brigade, a band of militants whose name is a reference to the Battle of Badr, when Islamic Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) fought and won a battle against over 1,000 Makkan pagans with just 313 Muslim fighters.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Malik ‘98% sure’ Kashmiri is dead</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/182836/98-sure-ilyas-kashmiri-is-dead-rehman-malik</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/182836/98-sure-ilyas-kashmiri-is-dead-rehman-malik#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jun 11 02:00:41 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA['All ground intelligence shows that he is dead,' says Interior Minister Rehman Malik.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday that although he had no physical proof, he was “98 per cent sure” that senior al Qaeda operative Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan.

US officials in Washington were sceptical over reports that Kashmiri was dead.

Kashmiri, who was chief of the so-called ‘313 Brigade’ of Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) militant group, was killed in a missile strike by a CIA-operated pilot-less aircraft in the Karikot area of South Waziristan on Friday.

A US National Security official said he could not confirm that  he had been killed and another US official said it was doubtful.

“All ground intelligence shows that he is dead. What I can say is there is a 98 per cent chance he is dead,” Malik told Reuters.

“Since we do not have the body, we do not have DNA we need to confirm. This is the substantive evidence we are looking for,” he added.

Separately, speaking to the media in Quetta,  Malik ruled out the existence of the ‘Quetta Shura’ which is said to be operating out of Quetta. Malik said as many as 30 sites were raided on secret information but there was no evidence that the Shura existed. “[Elements] who claim that Quetta Shura exists must provide evidence or information to government,” he said.

The minister also insisted that “foreign hands” were involved in creating the law and order situation in Balochistan.

Asked to explain the deaths of 700 people in incidents of targeted killings and the recovery of 200 bullet-riddled bodies of Baloch missing persons, Malik said that ‘anti-social elements’ were involved in the killings and dumping of the bodies.

He also claimed that as of now, there were only 38 people missing and efforts were being made to trace them.

(WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHEHZAD BALOCH IN QUETTA)

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>The death of Ilyas Kashmiri</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/182287/the-death-of-ilyas-kashmiri</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/182287/the-death-of-ilyas-kashmiri#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Jun 11 21:40:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=182287</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[While Ilyas Kashmiri is dead, the military-militant nexus isn’t yet.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[It appears that Ilyas Kashmiri, a top al Qaeda militant, has been killed in a drone attack in South Waziristan – with confirmation coming purportedly from his own organisation. His death, if indeed he has been killed, will come as a huge blow to al Qaeda since Kashmiri was being touted as a potential successor to Osama bin Laden and was the outfit’s military commander. Kashmiri was one of the few men who provided a link between al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. As the leader of the 313 Brigade, his autonomous unit within the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, he drew on his contacts from his time resisting the Soviets in Afghanistan to collaborate with al Qaeda.  Connected to both local and foreign militant outfits, his killing should come as a relief not just to Pakistan but all countries afflicted by terrorism.

His killing may also reignite the debate over the use of armed drones in the tribal areas. In isolation, it is hard to conceive of a more effective weapon in the fight against militancy. Drones target specific individuals, thereby limiting the casualties that would be incurred if ground troops were sent into North Waziristan. However, the public relations fight for the use of drones has been lost thanks to the duplicity of the Pakistan government. As shown in leaked US State Department cables, the country’s military and government has authorised, and even welcomed, the US drones while maintaining public deniability. Had our government been straight with the people from the outset, perhaps public opinion against the use of drones would not be strong.

Kashmiri’s killing should also be a cause for reflection in the military. Here was another man who was incubated, trained and rewarded by the military for fighting in Indian Kashmir only to turn against his benefactors. As reported by slain journalist Saleem Shahzad, Kashmiri was likely the mastermind behind the attack on PNS Mehran. The fallout between the military and Kashmiri wasn’t ideological; he had, according to several accounts, refused to serve alongside Maulana Masood Azhar. Even upon his return from Kashmir, Kashmiri was allowed to operate relatively freely. He was arrested for plotting to assassinate General Pervez Musharraf but then inexplicably freed. That Kashmiri has now been killed is good news but that the military-militant nexus isn’t yet dead is cause for concern.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Ilyas Kashmiri killed in drone strike</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/182247/drone-strike-kills-five-in-south-waziristan-officials</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/182247/drone-strike-kills-five-in-south-waziristan-officials#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Jun 11 11:10:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Fax sent from Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Mohammad spokesperson says drone strike killed Kashmiri on June 3.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Ilyas Khasmiri has been killed in a drone strike in South Waziristan, the Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami confirmed on Saturday.

A fax sent to the media from a person claiming to be the spokesperson of the banned militant organisation stated that Kashmiri had been killed in a US drone strike on June 3. The translation reads:
On behalf of Harkat Jihad alIslami 313 Brigade we confirm the fact that our leader and Commander-in-chief Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, along with other companions, have been martyred in an American drone attack at 11:15 pm on June 3, 2011 and Insha Allah (God willing) the present pharaoh America will see our full revenge very soon. Our only target is America.

Spokesperson

(Harkat Jihad alIslami) 313 Brigade

Abu Hunzala

June 4, 2011
The copy of the fax can be seen here.

An official from the political administration of the area has confirmed that Kashmiri has been killed.

Earlier, a report on the BBC Urdu website had stated that Kashmiri had been killed along with eight other people  in a US drone strike.

Kashmiri and his group are group linked to al Qaeda and are suspected of launching a 2006 suicide attack on the US consulate in Karachi and carrying out the attack on the PNS Mehran airbase.

A government official, on the condition of anonymity, had told the BBC correspondent that there were reports of Kashmiri being killed but there was no official confirmation. Officials also said that those killed were militants from Punjab.

Locals and witnesses had also said that Kashmiri had been killed in the drone attack.

Last August, Kashmiri was placed on a US list as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” and HUJI was labeled a “Foreign Terrorist Organisation.” HUJI and Kashmiri have also been added to a United Nations blacklist of individuals and entities linked to the al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The article has been revised to make the following correction:

Correction, June 4, 2011

Due to an editing error, the dates in the translation of the fax read January instead of June. The correction has been made.]]>
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			<title>Al Qaeda had warned of Pakistan strike</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/181624/al-qaeda-had-warned-of-pakistan-strike</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/181624/al-qaeda-had-warned-of-pakistan-strike#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Jun 11 08:26:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[syed.saleem.shahzad]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=181624</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Several weeks ago, naval intelligence traced an al Qaeda cell operating inside several navy bases in Karachi.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Al Qaeda carried out the brazen attack on PNS Mehran naval air station in Karachi on May 22 after talks failed between the navy and al Qaeda over the release of naval officials arrested on suspicion of al Qaeda links, an Asia Times Online investigation reveals. 

Pakistani security forces battled for 15 hours to clear the naval base after it had been stormed by a handful of well-armed militants.

At least 10 people were killed and two United States-made P3-C Orion surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft worth US$36 million each were destroyed before some of the attackers escaped through a cordon of thousands of armed forces.

An official statement placed the number of militants at six, with four killed and two escaping. Unofficial sources, though, claim there were 10 militants with six getting free. Asia Times Online contacts confirm that the attackers were from Ilyas Kashmiri's 313 Brigade, the operational arm of al Qaeda.

Three attacks on navy buses in which at least nine people were killed last month were warning shots for navy officials to accept al Qaeda's demands over the detained suspects.

The May 2 killing in Pakistan of Osama bin Laden spurred al Qaeda groups into developing a consensus for the attack in Karachi, in part as revenge for the death of their leader and also to deal a blow to Pakistan's surveillance capacity against the Indian navy.

The deeper underlying motive, though, was a reaction to massive internal crackdowns on al Qaeda affiliates within the navy.

Volcano of militancy

Several weeks ago, naval intelligence traced an al Qaeda cell operating inside several navy bases in Karachi, the country's largest city and key port.

"Islamic sentiments are common in the armed forces," a senior navy official told Asia Times Online on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

"We never felt threatened by that. All armed forces around the world, whether American, British or Indian, take some inspiration from religion to motivate their cadre against the enemy. Pakistan came into existence on the two-nation theory that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations and therefore no one can separate Islam and Islamic sentiment from the armed forces of Pakistan," the official said.

"Nonetheless, we observed an uneasy grouping on different naval bases in Karachi. While nobody can obstruct armed forces personnel for rendering religious rituals or studying Islam, the grouping [we observed] was against the discipline of the armed forces. That was the beginning of an intelligence operation in the navy to check for unscrupulous activities."

The official explained the grouping was against the leadership of the armed forces and opposed to its nexus with the United States against Islamic militancy. When some messages were intercepted hinting at attacks on visiting American officials, intelligence had good reason to take action and after careful evaluation at least 10 people - mostly from the lower cadre - were arrested in a series of operations.

"That was the beginning of huge trouble," the official said.

Those arrested were held in a naval intelligence office behind the chief minister's residence in Karachi, but before proper interrogation could begin, the in-charge of the investigation received direct threats from militants who made it clear they knew where the men were being detained.

The detainees were promptly moved to a safer location, but the threats continued. Officials involved in the case believe the militants feared interrogation would lead to the arrest of more of their loyalists in the navy. The militants therefore made it clear that if those detained were not released, naval installations would be attacked.

It was clear the militants were receiving good inside information as they always knew where the suspects were being detained, indicating sizeable al Qaeda infiltration within the navy's ranks. A senior-level naval conference was called at which an intelligence official insisted that the matter be handled with great care, otherwise the consequences could be disastrous. Everybody present agreed, and it was decided to open a line of communication with al Qaeda.

Abdul Samad Mansoori, a former student union activist and now part of 313 brigade, who originally hailed from Karachi but now lives in the North Waziristan tribal area was approached and talks begun. Al Qaeda demanded the immediate release of the officials without further interrogation. This was rejected.

The detainees were allowed to speak to their families and were well treated, but officials were desperate to interrogate them fully to get an idea of the strength of al Qaeda's penetration. The militants were told that once interrogation was completed, the men would be discharged from the service and freed.

Al Qaeda rejected these terms and expressed its displeasure with the attacks on the navy buses in April.

These incidents pointed to more than the one al Qaeda cell intelligence had tracked in the navy. The fear now was that if the problem was not addressed, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supply lines could face a new threat. NATO convoys are routinely attacked once they begin the journey from Karachi to Afghanistan; now they could be at risk in Karachi port. Americans who often visit naval facilities in the city would also be in danger.

Therefore, another crackdown was conducted and more people were arrested. Those seized had different ethnic backgrounds. One naval commando came from South Waziristan's Mehsud tribe and was believed to have received direct instructions from Hakeemullah Mehsud, the chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistan Taliban). Others were from Punjab province and Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.

After Bin Laden was killed by American Navy Seals in Abbottabad, 60 kilometers north of Islamabad, militants decided the time was ripe for major action.

Within a week, insiders at PNS Mehran provided maps, pictures of different exit and entry routes taken in daylight and at night, the location of hangers and details of likely reaction from external security forces.

As a result, the militants were able to enter the heavily guarded facility where one group targeted the aircraft, a second group took on the first strike force and a third finally escaped with the others providing covering fire. Those who stayed behind were killed.

This article featured in Asia Times Online on May 27, 2011 has been republished online with the permission of the publication. The original article can be viewed here.]]>
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			<title>Targeting high-value targets: ‘US, Pakistan form anti-terror squad’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/181352/targeting-high-value-targets-%e2%80%98us-pakistan-form-anti-terror-squad%e2%80%99</link>
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			<pubDate>Fri, 03 Jun 11 06:19:21 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[New intelligence team to go after top suspects including Haqqani network.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The US and Pakistan are attempting to repair their strained ties by forging a new joint intelligence team to go after top terrorism suspects, Associated Press quoted US and Pakistani officials as saying.


The move comes after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Pakistan with the US list of most-wanted terrorism targets, including some groups the Pakistanis have been reluctant to attack, US and Pakistani officials said on Wednesday.

The move is among a host of confidence-building measures meant to restore trust blown on both sides after US forces tracked down and killed al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden during a secret raid in Pakistan last month.

But it also amounts to a new test of loyalty for both sides. The Pakistanis say the US has failed to share its best intelligence, instead running numerous unilateral spying operations on its soil.

US officials say they need to see the Pakistanis target militants they’ve long sheltered, including the Haqqani network.

Team composition

The investigative team will be made up mainly of intelligence officers from both nations, according to two US and one Pakistani official.

It would draw in part on any intelligence emerging from the CIA’s analysis of computer and written files gathered by the Navy SEALs who raided bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad, as well as Pakistani intelligence gleaned from interrogations of those who frequented or lived near the Bin Laden compound, the officials said.

The formation of the team marks a return to the counterterrorism cooperation that has led to major takedowns of al Qaeda militants, like the joint arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003.

The high-value target team is expected to use any intelligence found at the bin Laden compound in the hunt, although a month after the raid analysts have found nothing “actionable,” a term describing intelligence that leads to a strike or operation against a new al Qaeda target, two US officials say.

Top five targets

The joint intelligence team will go after five top targets, including al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, al Qaeda operations chief Atiya Abdel Rahman, Taliban leader Mullah Omar, leader of the Haqqani tribe Siraj Haqqani and leader of Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, all of whom US intelligence officials believe are hiding in Pakistan, one US official said.

Pakistani officials say the US has never provided them accurate intelligence as to the Haqqani leadership’s location.

Pakistani officials also argue that as the Haqqani network has been careful never to attack the Pakistani government, there is no reason to attack them.

Intelligence centres

Intelligence-sharing operations between the US and Pakistan were already strained before the Bin Laden raid, particularly by the arrest and detention in January of CIA contractor Raymond Davis.

Two of the five “intelligence fusion centers” where the US shares satellite, drone and other intelligence with the Pakistanis were mothballed last fall, long before either the Davis or Bin Laden controversies, the Pakistani official and another US official say.

It was part of the fallout of the public embarrassment of the WikiLeaks cables disclosures, which revealed a closer US-Pakistani military relationship than publicly acknowledged by Pakistan.

Two other fusion centers, plus smaller cooperative intelligence-sharing facilities, remain operational, both sides say, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3rd, 2011.]]>
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