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Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Who is lead Pakistan Army HQ Attacker Aqeel?

Al Jazeera English has an interesting background piece on the alleged leader on the ground of the Army HQ attack Saturday in Rawal Pindi, "Aqeel, " who is in custody though seriously injured. It looks into the Punjab connection.

Aqeel was recruited into Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, armed groups based in Punjab province.

Jaish and Lashkar have long been blamed for attacks on Western targets in Pakistan, as well as on minority Shia populations.
Both groups are believed to have had links with Pakistan security agencies, which used their members to fight proxy wars in Afghanistan and India before 2001.
The Punjab connection is significant because ethnic Punjabis dominate the army and the major institutions of the Pakistani state, Shuja Nawaz, head of the South Asia Centre at the Atlantic Council in Washington, has been quoted as saying.

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