Sunday, October 22, 2006
India, Afghanistan behind Peshawar blast
By Iqbal Khattak
PESHAWAR:Investigators suspect that Fridayââ¬â¢s blast in Peshawar could have ââ¬Åoriginated from Afghan and Indian intelligence collaboration in Kabulââ¬Â.
DIG (Operations) Malik Saad told Daily Times that police were looking for clues to determine whether the man who executed the attack was a local or an Afghan. Injured gypsy women in Lady Reading Hospital told investigators they had seen the man for the first time in the area, but they could not identify whether he was a local or an Afghan.
A counter-intelligence official said the blast was linked to a ââ¬Åwider regional conflictââ¬Â suggesting that the mastermind was from ââ¬Åacross the (western) borderââ¬Â. ââ¬ÅThese explosions are taking place to destabilise Pakistan,ââ¬Â he said.
ââ¬ÅAn improvised explosive device was detonated in a pushcart, and investigators are gathering evidence to get to the attackers,ââ¬Â said Saad before a meeting that was presided over by IG Riffat Pasha.
Police sources said that at the meeting, ââ¬Åall security agencies had pointed their fingers across the borderââ¬Â. The sources said that police were finding it hard to make headway into the investigation or dig up evidence to substantiate their suspicion. ââ¬ÅThere has been no breakthrough so far.ââ¬Â
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani also presided over a meeting to review the security situation following a series of blasts in Peshawar. ââ¬ÅWe will identify them, and will not spare them,ââ¬Â Durrani told the meeting.
Police investigators are also looking at a possible link with the North Waziristan peace deal, as all five explosions in Peshawar took place after the accord was signed on September 5.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\10\22\story_22-10-2006_pg1_8