Attack on Pak Army GHQ - Implications for Pakistan's Nuclear Security

qsaark

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imagine you breed vicious dogs to bite your neighbors ; one day the town sheriff comes along and asks you to keep those dogs tied up in the backyard or he's going to put you in jail. you do that but every once in awhile one gets loose and bites someone . the sherrif asks you to put them down but you are too paranoid about what you see as your big burly unbeliever neighbor to do the same, the dogs grow restless until one day they bite your wife what do you do now?

substitute the ISI for yourself, the terrorists for the dogs , India for the neighbor, america for the sheriff and the Pakistani army for the wife. get the picture!

RIP to the soldiers who died fighting the militants these men faced the consequences of bad decisions taken by politicians and decision makers in Islamabad over the last twenty years .
Except that it was the Sheriff himself who provided money, logistics and every other thing to bring the dogs in the town and get them trained in the first place to maintain his post of Sheriff.
 

Vinod2070

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Except that it was the Sheriff himself who provided money, logistics and every other thing to bring the dogs in the town and get them trained in the first place to maintain his post of Sheriff.
You are right. But does it absolve the Pakistani leaders of the time and later to be allowed to be used n such a manner?

They were equaly shortsighted if not more. They were interested only in the immediate "keemat" they could get (so many of them got filthy rich from the Soviet Afghan war), the F-16s, the sundry weapons, the hardened terrorists that were used in Kashmir.

Then came the inevitable (in hindsight) blowback! Now to say that USA was also involved in the early crimes does not help the Pakistani society. Does it?

It was the job of Pakistani leaders to look after Pakistan's interest. period.

They failed and Pakistan is payng the price. So are others, unfortunately.
 

Daredevil

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Except that it was the Sheriff himself who provided money, logistics and every other thing to bring the dogs in the town and get them trained in the first place to maintain his post of Sheriff.
The sheriff did all those to protect its interests from Russia. But once job was done, sheriff left them in the hands of the Husband/Wife (ISI/PA) who instead of putting them under leash or even euthanizing them, have left them in the open to bite the neighbors because of old conflict with them. Now the one of the dog came back to bite their owners and they are feeling the heat from Sheriff to euthanize these dogs. But, the wife/husband are trying to do their best to differentiate between the good dog and bad dog and try to euthanize bad dog only while trying to use the good dog against the neighbors another day when Sheriff turns blind eye.

Good dog - Afghan Taliban/LeT/JuD etc
Bad dog - TTP/Pakistani Taliban/LeJ/JeM etc
Neighbors - Afghanistan/India
 

johnee

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substitute the ISI for yourself, the terrorists for the dogs , India for the neighbor, america for the sheriff and the Pakistani army for the wife. get the picture!
Great analogy.

But PA is the macho husband and ISI is the obedient wife who follows the orders of her husband sincerely. And the Sheriff(US) has lot of shadow transactions with all the parties. Sheriff gains his power by keeping the balance of power. The biggest fear for the Sheriff is if the people of the colony(Asia) start cooperating with their neighbours and prosper(and thus grow powerful), then his role will be cut short in this area. So, he keeps the colony on the boil.

There is another character in this story. A local rowdy who wants to replace the Sheriff and usurp his power. That rowdy is China. And there is another guy, who is big, strong and well built but extremely naive(to the extent of foolishness). That guy is seen as a threat by both the sheriff and the rowdy, so they use the paranoid and insecure neighbour(PA) of this guy to keep him occupied.
 

Pintu

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The Associated Press: Attacks demonstrate Taliban resurgence in Pakistan

Attacks demonstrate Taliban resurgence in Pakistan

By RAVI NESSMAN (AP) – 1 hour ago

ISLAMABAD — A week of terror strikes across Pakistan, capped by a stunning assault on army headquarters, show the Taliban have rebounded and appear determined to shake the nation's resolve as the military plans for an offensive against the group's stronghold on the Afghan border.

The 22-hour attack on Pakistan's "Pentagon" in the city of Rawalpindi, which ended with 20 dead Sunday, was the third terror attack in a week to shake this nuclear-armed nation. It demonstrated the militants' renewed strength since their leader was killed by a U.S. missile strike in August and military operations against their bases.

The U.S. has long pushed Islamabad to take more action against Taliban and al-Qaida militants, who are also blamed for attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, and the army carried out a successful campaign against the militants in the Swat Valley in the spring.

But the army had been unwilling to go all out in the lawless tribal areas along the border that serve as the Taliban's main refuge. Three offensives into South Waziristan since 2001 ended in failure and the government signed peace deals with the militants.

On the heels of the Swat victory, the military launched a campaign of airstrikes on the militants in Waziristan and in recent weeks officials said they were preparing a full offensive there.

That was before the embarrassing attack on army headquarters bolstered militants' assertions they are ready to take on the military, and threatened to deflate the army's newfound popularity.

In the wake of the seige in Rawalpindi, the government said it would not be deterred. The military launched two airstrikes Sunday evening on suspected militant targets in South Waziristan, killing at least five insurgents and ending a five-day lull in attacks there, intelligence officials said.

"We are going to attack the terrorists, the miscreants over there who are disturbing the state and damaging the peace," Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said. "Wherever they will be, we will follow them. We will pursue them. We will take them to task."

In London, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the insurgents are "increasingly threatening the authority of the state, but we see no evidence they are going to take over the state." She and British Foreign Minister David Miliband said there was no sign Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was at risk.

Available information suggests that Pakistan's secret nuclear sites are protected by crack troops and multiple physical barriers.

"It's not thought likely that the Taliban are suddenly going to storm in and gain control of the nuclear facilities," said Gareth Price, head of the Asia program at London think tank Chatham House.

Security at army headquarters did not prevent a team of 10 gunmen in fatigues from launching a frontal assault on the very core of the country's most powerful institution Saturday morning, setting off a gunbattle and hostage drama that ended a day later after a commando raid.

The violence killed 20, including three hostages and nine militants, while 42 hostages were freed, the military said. Many of them had been held in a single room by militant wearing a suicide vest, who was shot by commandos before he could detonate his explosives, the army said.

The military said it captured the militant's ringleader, who was known as Aqeel or "Dr. Usman." Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the militant's nickname derived from the time he spent as a guard at an army nursing school before he joined the insurgents.

The name matched that of a militant suspected of orchestrating an attack in Lahore earlier this year on Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team. Hakimullah Mehsud, the new leader of the Taliban, had claimed responsibility for that attack.

A police intelligence report from July obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday warned that members of the Taliban along with the Punjab-based Jaish-e-Mohammed were planning to attack army headquarters after disguising themselves as soldiers. The report was given to the AP by an official in Punjab's home affairs ministry.

Officials have warned that Taliban fighters close to the border, Punjabi militants spread out across the country and foreign al-Qaida operatives were increasingly joining forces, dramatically increasing the dangers to Pakistan.

The weekend strike was a stunning finale to a week of attacks that highlighted the militants' ability to strike a range of targets in different cities, seemingly at will.

On Monday, a suicide bomber dressed as a paramilitary police officer blew himself up inside a heavily guarded U.N. aid agency in the heart of the capital, Islamabad. On Friday, a suspected militant detonated an explosives-laden car in the middle of a busy market in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 53 people.

Before the attacks, Pakistani officials said their operations against the militants and the killing of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a CIA drone attack had left the insurgency in disarray. But the militants coalesced around his former deputy, Hakimullah Mehsud, who promised vengeance last week for the deadly airstrikes and warned that his fighters were prepared to repel any government offensive into Waziristan.

"They are well organized, and if the army takes action, they are able to hit back," former intelligence chief Jawed Ashraf Qazi said. He warned of more militant attacks ahead of an offensive: "The longer the delay, the more these actions are likely to occur."

Qazi estimated 6,000 battle-hardened Uzbek fighters are waiting in the mountains, along with thousand of local fighters from the Mehsud tribe of warriors with years of experience fighting the U.S. and Pakistan.

"The militants have had five, six years to build up infrastructure, so they're prepared," said Kamran Bokhari, an analyst with Stratfor, a U.S.-based global intelligence firm. "This is jihadist central in the country, so going in there is not going to be easy."

Yet, the recent attacks have left the government little choice but to confront the Taliban on their home turf, and the military appears better prepared than during its previous forays into the area, he said.

The army reportedly sent two divisions totaling 28,000 men to the area. They have blockaded the region, choking the Taliban's supply lines, cutting deals with local militias to prevent them from joining up with the militants and using airstrikes to take out insurgent leaders and keep the group on the run.

"This time the preparation is there. This time the resolve is there. This time pretty much everybody is on board," Bokhari said. "(The militant attacks) make it all the more clear that if you don't do this, this monstrosity that's out there in the tribal belt is not going away."

Associated Press reporters Jill Lawless in London and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.
 

Rage

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Firstly, commendations to the Pakistani Army and its SSG for rescuing the immured hostages with only 4 casualties to them and 8 casualties to their own troops. Despite the varyingly conflicting media reports, a protracted time-span of over 17 hours and some appallingly poor security in what is supposed to be one of the nation's most protected garrisons, the operation was generally successful and met its objective. Then again, the PA did not have to deal with foreign hostages and a situation in which multiple, simultaneous sensitive targets were attacked at once.


For those curious as to how such a brazen attack could be mounted on one of the 'best-guarded' security installations:

YouTube - Army uniforms for sale


And for the expected political fallout for which this entire scenario seems to have been evinced:


Pak President contemplating to replace Army Chief

Sunday 11 October 2009



LAHORE: Amidst rising tension between Pakistan’s civilian government and the country’s military tops brass over some controversial provisions of the Kerry-Lugar Bill, there are reports that President Asif Zardari has been contemplating to replace Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani for his persistent opposition to the USD 7.5 billion American financial assistance programme.

The Pakistani military leadership has already made public its opposition to the Kerry-Lugar Bill by issuing a formal press release following the October 7, 2009 corps commanders’ conference which evoked immediate panic at the presidency and in government corridors. The statement issued by the military spokesman expressed serious concern over some of the provisions of the legislative bill and warned that these could affect ’national security’. Unlike previous no-strings US aid packages, Kerry-Lugar non-military financial assistance bill makes support conditional on Pakistan’s military being subordinated to its elected government, and taking action against militants sheltering on its soil. The Pakistani military leadership’s ire is focused on the Kerry-Lugar Bill’s specific requirements that the US Secretary of State certify, at six-month intervals, that the Pakistani military remains under civilian oversight, even specifying such details as the need for the government to control senior command promotions.

Kerry-Lugar also requires that the Pakistani military act against militant networks on its soil, specifying those based in Quetta and Muridke. However, the Presidency has dismissed the concerns of the military leadership, with President Zardari forging ahead with his unwavering support for the bill. The presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar, while commenting on the press release issued by the military after the corps commanders’ conference, has said that there are established channels for the Pakistan Army to express its views and these should have been followed instead of making public the issue. These developments, especially after the corps commanders meeting in Rawalpindi to discuss the Kerry-Lugar Bill, even caused rumours about President Zardari’s possible sacking of the Army Chief General Kayani.

Amidst all these developments, the Pakistani ministry of defense has informed the presidency in a recent communiqué that seven senior generals of Pakistan Army including Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) General Tariq Majid, and three senior corps commanders are due to retire by November 28, 2010. Well informed sources in the ministry of defense say the presidency has been provided with the most up-to-date seniority list of the 30-plus serving generals and lieutenant generals of Pakistan Army, in the backdrop of the October 7 corps commanders’ conference in Rawalpindi, which expressed serious concerns on certain clauses of the Kerry-Lugar Bill, maintaining that they were bound to affect national security.

The seniority list, which is now carefully being scanned by the presidency, seems to have been updated till October 4, 2009 when four major generals of the Army were promoted by COAS General Ashfaq Kayani to the rank of lieutenant generals, including Maj-Gen Shafqat Ahmed, Maj-Gen Khalid Nawaz, Maj-Gen Alam Khattak, and Maj-Gen Sardar Mehmood. These promotions were made following the September 23, 2009 retirements of four three-star generals including Lt-Gen Muhammad Masood Aslam, Corps Commander Peshawar, Lt-Gen Hamid Khan, President of the National Defence University, Islamabad, Lt-Gen General Raza Mohammad Khan, Director General Joint Staff and Lt-Gen. Shafaat Ullah Shah, Chief of Logistics Staff, GHQ.

However, approached for comments, the presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar strongly refuted media reports that President Zardari wanted to remove General Ashfaq Kayani for making public the concerns of the corps commander to the Kerry-Lugar Bill. He said such reports were in fact a deliberate attempt to undermine President Asif Zardari. He said the issue was being politicized by vested interests despite the fact that the Kerry-Lugar Bill has nothing against the national interests and sovereignty of the country. “Let me make it clear that no one in Pakistan would want the security apparatus or for that anyone to subvert Pakistan’s political judicial institutions and processes. The hype about adverse conditions attached to the Kerry-Lugar Bill is simply unfounded and part of the attempt to delegitimize President Asif Zardari”, Farhatullah Babar concluded.


Pak President contemplatinmg to replace Army Chief - Middle East Transparent
 

johnee

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On his part, Kiyani might be contemplating to replace Zardari with Nawaz. It would be interesting to see who wins, Zardari or Kiyani. With past knowledge of Pakistan's politics, I would place my 2 cents on Kiyani removing Zardari.
 

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Pakistani Police Had Warned Army About a Raid

By JANE PERLEZ
Published: October 11, 2009

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 revelation of prior warning was sure to intensify scrutiny of Pakistan’s ability to fight militants, after nine men wearing army uniforms breached the military headquarters complex in Rawalpindi and held dozens hostage for 20 hours until a commando raid ended the siege. In all, 16 people were killed, including eight of the attackers, the military said.

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 army has been promising to fight back against the fierce Taliban insurgency holed up in the tribal region of South Waziristan amid pressure from the Obama administration, which is about to secure a major aid package that would give $1.5 billion a year to the government here.

The attack on the headquarters was a signal that the Taliban insurgency had penetrated deeply into Punjab Province, where the military headquarters are located, and was no longer confined to the wild tribal areas that serve as the operational center for the Pakistani Taliban.

The militant leader, Mr. Aqeel, led the commando operation against the Sri Lankan cricket team during its visit to Lahore earlier this year, according to a senior police officer in Punjab involved in the investigation into that assault. He was also behind the suicide bombing that killed the army surgeon general in 2008, military officials said.

In a warning to authorities in July, the criminal investigation department of the police in Punjab said the militants who attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in March would make a similar kind of assault on military headquarters. The warning, contained in a letter to the leading intelligence agencies, predicted militants would dress in military uniforms and would try to take hostages at the headquarters.

The contents of the letter were published in the Oct. 5 editions of a leading newspaper, The News, and were confirmed Sunday by a senior official of the criminal investigation department.

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.

The assault on the headquarters represented a severe breakdown in military security and intelligence for the army, which is regarded with the highest esteem among the Pakistani public and is widely considered as the one institution that can keep the fractured country together.

In London on Sunday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, said the attack showed the severe threat that militants pose to stability in Pakistan. But they brushed aside a question about whether, given the increased militant activity, the Pakistani government could be trusted to keep its own nuclear weapons secure.

“In respect of the nuclear issue, there is no evidence that has been shown publicly or privately of any threat to the Pakistani nuclear facilities,” Mr. Miliband said at the news conference.

Mrs. Clinton reiterated that the Obama administration had “confidence in the Pakistani government.”

The attack on Saturday showed intimate knowledge of the layout of the military headquarters in Rawalpindi and was skillfully planned, said a retired Pakistani Army brigadier and special forces officer, Javed Hussain.

The attackers, apparently driving in one van, managed to drive easily through the first security post on the main road into the headquarters, Brigadier Hussain said. At a second security post soldiers opened fire, and four of the attackers were killed.

But four or five of the attackers survived the firefight at the second post and appeared to have made a beeline on foot for the military intelligence building, which is close to the main entrance, according to accounts from military officials.

The hostages, including soldiers and civilians, were held in two rooms in the one-story military intelligence directorate building inside the headquarters, according to several army officers, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.

Among those killed in the attack was Brig. 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.

The hostage-takers held their captives in at least two groups, military officials said. In one room, 22 hostages were clustered with three assailants, one of whom wore a suicide bomb jacket. There were 12 hostages in another room, where another assailant wore a suicide jacket.

In their assault to free the hostages, special commandos successfully killed one would-be suicide bomber, but other militants in the room fired at two of the commandos, killing them, a military official said.

As commandos approached the second room, another suicide bomber blew himself up, bringing down the roof and causing injuries among the captives, the military official said.

Reporting was contributed by Salman Masood in Islamabad, Ismail Khan in Peshawar, and Waqar Gillani in Lahore.
 

Vladimir79

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Located outside the perimeter not within.
Read it qsaark.... it was within

The attack on Saturday showed intimate knowledge of the layout of the military headquarters in Rawalpindi and was skillfully planned, said a retired Pakistani Army brigadier and special forces officer, Javed Hussain.

The attackers, apparently driving in one van, managed to drive easily through the first security post on the main road into the headquarters, Brigadier Hussain said. At a second security post soldiers opened fire, and four of the attackers were killed.

But four or five of the attackers survived the firefight at the second post and appeared to have made a beeline on foot for the military intelligence building, which is close to the main entrance, according to accounts from military officials.

The hostages, including soldiers and civilians, were held in two rooms in the one-story military intelligence directorate building inside the headquarters, according to several army officers, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.
 

Quickgun Murugan

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Terrorist commander Aqeel alias Dr.Usman arrested

Security forces held the injured terrorist commander, Aqeel alias Dr.Usman during the search and clean operation on Sunday morning, he is allegedly the master mind of terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricket team, according to the spokesman of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. He said that two terrorists out of four, who were killed on Sunday morning were wearing suicide jackets and they remained unable to inflict any loss as the commandos first hit them successfully and then freed the hostages from their clutches. The hostages have been shifted to safer places and are in a good condition, he added. The DG ISPR said that the Operation Clearance, which started at 6:00 a.m took only forty minutes for its completion. He said the combing and search of the security office of General Headquarters, where the militants made hostage to the security personnel was completed. He said that there was no senior officer among the hostages and the majority of hostages comprised civilian servants. “The details of the operation would be given later on.
So what about the recent SL govt's claim of LTTE involvement in that attack?
 

Vinod2070

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On his part, Kiyani might be contemplating to replace Zardari with Nawaz. It would be interesting to see who wins, Zardari or Kiyani. With past knowledge of Pakistan's politics, I would place my 2 cents on Kiyani removing Zardari.
I agree. Things are coming to a head. There could well be a confrontation between the politicians and the military soon.

Kiyani is at present very popular in Pakistan. He may use this to strike at an opportune time.
 

ejazr

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

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

The leader of the attack on the Pakistani Army’s headquarters is one of several former military officers and soldiers to have joined Islamic militant groups.

Security officials have identified him as Mohammed Aqeel and said that he was in the medical corps before joining militants based in the northwestern tribal region of North Waziristan.

Earlier this year police arrested Major Haroon Rashid who, they said, worked for al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taleban and was involved in the murder of a retired general who led special forces against the militants.

The major quit the army in 2001 after Pakistan supported the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and went to Waziristan to train militants, security sources say.

His younger brother, a captain, went to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Afghan Taleban after leaving the army in 2002. He was killed fighting British Forces in Helmand in 2002.

Ilyas Khashmiri, a retired army commando, was one of the most dreaded militant commanders until he was killed in a drone strike on North Waziristan last month. Intelligence sources say many other former soldiers are either fighting foreign forces in Afghanistan or helping militants in northwestern Pakistan.

They have been involved in planning strategies and tactics that have made the militants more effective in recent years. 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.

Analysts said there were still officers in the military with radical Islamic leanings who opposed the army’s ongoing offensive against the militants in the northwest.

One indication is that many more officers and soldiers sport long beards than before, as is demanded by most of the militant groups and conservative clerics across the country.

Analysts said that did not necessarily mean they were inclined towards militancy, but there was always a danger of more conservative Muslims in the army turning to jihad
 

dineshchaturvedi

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If this is true, its not a good sign. I am fearing that Pakistan might become like Iraq at a lower scale though.
 

ejazr

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Who is ‘Dr Osman’?

ISLAMABAD: Aqeel alias Dr Osman, the injured terrorist commander captured by security forces from the General Headquarters (GHQ) on Sunday morning, is a member of a Punjab-based militant group with links to Baitullah Mehsud’s Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Sources say Aqeel, who was ostensibly the leader of terrorists who attacked the military headquarters, hails from Kahuta tehsil of Rawalpindi. Muhammad Aqeel, who has also served in the Army Medical Corps, left the army in 2006 and joined Maulana Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e-Muhammad. Later, he joined the Qari Saifullah Group under the command of Ilyas Kashmiri. As Dr Osman, he briefly worked with the Pakistan Army Surgeon General Army Lt Gen Dr Mushtaq, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Rawalpindi, an attack which he was allegedly involved with.

Sources said Aqeel was also the brains behind the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. He was also involved in planning attacks on former president Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Shaukat Aziz.

Earlier, police had arrested another operative of Aqeel’s network in Punjab. Zubair alias Nek Muhammad, who was involved in the March 3 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, had told police what he knew about Aqeel.

The four other terrorists involved in the attack in Lahore were later identified as Samiullah alias Ijaz of Nankana Sahib, Adnan alias Sajjad from Dera Ghazi Khan, Qari Ihsan alias Qari Ajmal of Bahawalpur and Abdul Wahab alias Muhammad Umer. All six men had escaped to Waziristan after the Lahore attack to avoid arrest.
 

nitesh

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This clearly proves that the nuclear bombs are not safe at all:

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

The leader of the attack on the Pakistani Army’s headquarters is one of several former military officers and soldiers to have joined Islamic militant groups.
His younger brother, a captain, went to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Afghan Taleban after leaving the army in 2002. He was killed fighting British Forces in Helmand in 2002.

Ilyas Khashmiri, a retired army commando, was one of the most dreaded militant commanders until he was killed in a drone strike on North Waziristan last month. Intelligence sources say many other former soldiers are either fighting foreign forces in Afghanistan or helping militants in northwestern Pakistan.
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.
 

RPK

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'Punjab militants joining hands with Pakistani Taliban'

Lahore, Oct 12 (PTI) Banned militant groups in Pakistan?s Punjab province are gaining strength with every passing day after having joined hands with the local Taliban who operate in the region with ease, police officials have said.

Several members of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) from southern Punjab, who fought in the Afghan war, have tied up with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan to carry out attacks against important installations, the officials said.

"This Pashtun-Punjabi alliance of extremists was also behind the attack on the army?s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi," a senior Crime Investigation Department (CID) officer told PTI.

He was referring to an attempt by terrorists over the weekend to storm the army?s headquarters. Eight soldiers were killed in the attack while nine terrorists were gunned down by commandos
 

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