Pakistan Militants aka Al Qaeda, Pakistani Taliban, Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI)

[ProfessorMurder]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/wo...a/12pstan.html

Pakistani Police Had Warned Army About a Raid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The mastermind of the militant assault on Saturday
that shook the heart of the Pakistani military was behind two other major
attacks in the last two years, and the police had specifically warned the
military in July that such an audacious raid was being planned, police and intelligence officials said Sunday.

The surviving militant, who was captured early Sunday morning, was
identified as Muhammad Aqeel, who officials said was a former soldier and the
planner of this attack and others. Mr. Aqeel, who is also known as Dr. Usman
because he had once worked with the Army Medical Corps before dropping
out about four years ago, is believed to be a member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a
militant group affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.

The letter specifically said that militants belonging to the umbrella group of
the Pakistani Taliban would join forces with two other groups, Lashkar-e-
Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Muhammad, to attack the military headquarters. The
Pakistani Taliban took credit for the Saturday attack in a telephone call to
the television network Geo.

Among those killed in the attack was Brigadier Anwar Ul Haq, the director of
security for military intelligence. He was shot in the first hour of the siege by
one of the gunmen who had penetrated his building, according to relatives of
the brigadier who attended his funeral Sunday.


When Brigadier Ul Haq heard shooting, he interrupted a conference he was
conducting and went into the corridor with an aide, according to the
relatives’ accounts. When he saw a man in military uniform with his back
turned to him, the brigadier told him to flee, but instead, the man turned
around and shot the brigadier, the relatives said.


Militant leader who led attack on Pakistan Army base is one of many defectors - Times Online

The militants also have sympathisers among serving officers, according to the intelligence sources.

At least six army officers — including some of the ranks of colonel and
major — were arrested a few years ago for their alleged links with al-Qaeda
and other militant groups.

Among them was a Major with whom Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged
mastermind of 9/11 attacks, stayed at Kohat Garrison before he was arrested
in 2003.

Several low ranking air force personnel were also arrested that year for
involvement in a failed plot to assassinate General Pervez Musharraf, the
former president.

They were found to be members of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a banned Pakistani
militant group which was close links with the Taleban and al Qaeda.

That incident led to a massive purge in the air force and the army.





washingtonpost.com

Kabul Attack May Intensify India-Pakistan Proxy Battle

Like archrival Pakistan, India sees Afghanistan as a strategic prize, but its
efforts to establish a big footprint there have been set back twice in 15
months by suicide bombings aimed at its widening presence.


In some ways, India and Pakistan have been waging a quiet battle inside
Afghanistan, and experts say the latest attack, on Thursday outside the
Indian Embassy in Kabul, is bound to intensify that rivalry.

Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, has long had deep
ties with elements inside Afghanistan, but large numbers of Indian intelligence
operatives are also in Afghanistan to counter Pakistan's influence and to act
as a check on Taliban militants, Indian and Pakistani security experts say.


"This is where the real proxy war between the two countries is being fought,"
said Ahmed Rashid, the Pakistani author of "Descent Into Chaos: The United
States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central
Asia."

Intelligence agencies blame the Inter-Services Intelligence, better known as
the ISI, for a 2008 blast at the Indian Embassy that killed 58 people,
including the defense attache. Pakistan denied the assertions.

Experts say there is a growing rift between Pakistan's civilian government and
its military, and between the military and the ISI. Those apparent rifts are
not lost on Indian diplomats, who realize the limits of Pakistan's government
to see through diplomatic promises.

Many in India note that Pakistan's government has been seeking some
cooperation with New Delhi, leaving Pakistan's military services and the ISI
outside of that diplomacy.

"The latest embassy bombing is going to cast a very dark shadow over talks
between India and Pakistan," said Uday Bhaskar, director of the New Delhi-
based National Maritime Foundation. "The general perception is that this
bombing could not have happened without the ISI's cooperation. It was not
the work of some bandit or independent actors."