Pakistan takes major action against Jamaat-ud-Dawaa camp

[Awesome]

Pakistan militant base reportedly raided

Pakistani troops seal off a Kashmir camp used by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group suspected in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, local news accounts and witnesses say.
By Laura King and Henry Chu
December 8, 2008

Reporting from New Delhi and Islamabad, Pakistan -- Pakistani troops on Sunday reportedly raided a camp belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba or an affiliated group, in what would be the government's first strike at militants accused in the Mumbai attacks.

Details were sketchy, but local news accounts and witnesses said Pakistani security forces sealed off the camp near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. It was not known whether any militants were present.

Pakistan's government has been under heavy pressure from the United States and India to move against those believed responsible for the rampage by gunmen last month in Mumbai, India's commercial capital. It was unclear, though, whether Sunday's reported raid was mainly a symbolic slap or meant to be a genuine blow to the group's infrastructure. Most of Lashkar-e-Taiba's training centers are thought to be in Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border.

It had been thought that any Pakistani government action against the militants would probably take place before today's start of the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice.

Pakistan's civilian leadership, mindful of religious sensitivities, is worried about a backlash from insurgents and their sympathizers if it carries out major raids or high-profile arrests during the holiday. Eid al-Adha formally lasts three days, but will basically shut down the country -- and much of the Muslim world -- this week.

Accounts said the Pakistani operation took place in the Shawai district, a mountainous area outside Muzaffarabad. A resident, Nisar Ali, told the Reuters news agency that the military closed off the area and that explosions could be heard.

Pakistan's military had no immediate comment on the reported raid, which came as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeated U.S. calls for Pakistan to move against militants suspected of carrying out the rampage at luxury hotels and other sites in Mumbai.

Indian investigators, supported by Western intelligence, believe Pakistan was used as a staging ground for the attacks. Indian authorities say that the sole captured gunman is a Pakistani and that the assailants were in touch by mobile phone with handlers in Pakistan during the 60-hour siege.

"I think there's no doubt that Pakistani territory was used, by probably non-state actors," Rice said on CNN's "Late Edition." Pakistan has vehemently denied involvement by the state or any of its agencies, a stance thus far supported by the United States.

"I don't think that there is compelling evidence of involvement of Pakistani officials," said Rice, who visited India and Pakistan last week in an effort to calm tensions.

Suspicion in the attack has fallen largely on Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Pure, a 2-decade-old group that spent much of its existence fighting Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir -- at times with the active assistance of Pakistan's intelligence services.

Pakistan banned the group in 2002, but a charitable wing, Jamaat ud-Dawa, operates openly, with a large base of support in Pakistan's Punjab province. Jamaat was a major presence in Muzaffarabad and surrounding areas after a deadly earthquake rocked Kashmir in 2005.

The head of Jamaat ud-Dawa, a former college professor named Hafiz Saeed, is a founding member of Lashkar. He is on a list of about 20 terrorist suspects whose hand-over India has demanded. Pakistan has indicated it will not comply.

Pakistan militant base reportedly raided - Los Angeles Times

I hope this goes a long way into normalizing the current strained relation between the two.

 

[A1Kaid]

To the residents of Mumbai and India Laskar e Toiba are terrorist, but to those Kashmiri Muslim people who have suffered at the hands of the Hindu Indian Terrorist Occupational Forces they are Freedom Fighters, fighting against the People of their Oppressors!!!

I have no soft spot in my heart for Terrorist Hindu India, as some on this forum do. (With the exception of Humanitarian aspect)

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

To the residents of Mumbai and India Laskar e Toiba are terrorist, but to those Kasmiri Muslim people who have suffered at the hands of the Hindu Indian Terrorist Occupational Forces they are Freedom Fighters, fighting against the People of their Oppressors!!!

I have no soft spot in my heart for Terrorist Hindu India, as some on this forum do. (With the exception of Humanitarian aspect)

If that camp was used to train individuals for actions such as what happened in Mumbai, then it deserves to be torn down, and any leadership and members who participated or advocated such acts of terrorism should be arrested and tried for their crimes.

The suffering of innocent Kashmiri civilians does not mean that innocent Indian civilians go through the same - there is no difference between the Indian security forces and the people involved in the Mumbai attacks then.

 

[Awesome]

If that camp was used to train individuals for actions such as what happened in Mumbai, then it deserves to be torn down, and any leadership and members who participated or advocated such acts of terrorism should be arrested and tried for their crimes.

The suffering of innocent Kashmiri civilians does not mean that innocent Indian civilians go through the same - there is no difference between the Indian security forces and the people involved in the Mumbai attacks then.

Even if it wasn't used against Mumbai it still needs to be shut down. It's a banned organization, and hence as much as an enemy of Pakistan.

I personally prefer Hizb-ul-Mujahideens operations. They've never veered out of Kashmir and they attack only the Indian occupation army. They even have Hindus fighting with them and some of the Hindus have even reached local unit commander levels.

The LeT isn't in our control. Their sister organization, Jaish-e-Mohammad is an open enemy of Pakistan and regularly bombs Shia mosques inside Pakistan. I think since Mualana Azhar was released by India, the Jaish hasn't attacked India at all, but has attacked Pakistan. These two organizations need to be shut down.

 

[Keysersoze]

Pakistan 'crackdown on militants'
Azam Amir Qasab
India says the surviving Mumbai gunman was a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant

Pakistan's armed forces have moved against a camp used by banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, reports say.

Witnesses heard several loud explosions and saw a helicopter and dozens of army personnel at the scene.

A BBC correspondent said the camp was sealed off, but Pakistani officials did not confirm its capture. India says the group is linked to the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan is under pressure from India and the US to act against the group.

The BBC's Zulfikar Ali in Muzaffarabad says he has been unable to reach the camp because of the cordon, but did see about 14 army vehicles leaving the area.

Reports said a number of militants had been arrested, and the Associated Press news agency quoted militants as saying the camp had been seized by the military.

The camp is run by a charity widely seen as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was itself banned in 2002.

Islamabad denies any involvement in the Mumbai attacks which left at least 170 people dead, but some of the gunmen are said to have had links to Pakistani militants.

Indian investigators have said that the only gunman captured in Mumbai, Azam Amir Qasab, had been indoctrinated by Lashkar-e-Taiba, and trained at a camp run by the group.

 

[fatman17]

^^^i believe that chap zakir has been arrested. there was a fire-fight and 10 militants were killed.
LeT and JeM have to be destroyed. until or unless the writ of the state is not enforced within pak territory, we will continue to be threatened by the likes of US and India. as old mushy said the only "lashker" in pakistan is the pak armed forces.
anybody using pak soil for their nefarious designs has to be destroyed. we need to increase our intelligence of such organizations and take action as and when required. then and only then we will resurrect our image as a moderate, democratic, and progressive muslim nation of 160m people. all the good work done by our intelligence and security agencies goes for naught because the world only focuses on these militant organisations.

 

[Awesome]

^^^i believe that chap zakir has been arrested. there was a fire-fight and 10 militants were killed.
LeT and JeM have to be destroyed. until or unless the writ of the state is not enforced within pak territory, we will continue to be threatened by the likes of US and India. as old mushy said the only "lashker" in pakistan is the pak armed forces.
anybody using pak soil for their nefarious designs has to be destroyed. we need to increase our intelligence of such organizations and take action as and when required. then and only then we will resurrect our image as a moderate, democratic, and progressive muslim nation of 160m people. all the good work done by our intelligence and security agencies goes for naught because the world only focuses on these militant organisations.

"There can be and will be no other Lashkar than armed forces"
-- Former President Pervez Musharraf

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Even if it wasn't used against Mumbai it still needs to be shut down. It's a banned organization, and hence as much as an enemy of Pakistan.

I personally prefer Hizb-ul-Mujahideens operations. They've never veered out of Kashmir and they attack only the Indian occupation army. They even have Hindus fighting with them and some of the Hindus have even reached local unit commander levels.

The LeT isn't in our control. Their sister organization, Jaish-e-Mohammad is an open enemy of Pakistan and regularly bombs Shia mosques inside Pakistan. I think since Mualana Azhar was released by India, the Jaish hasn't attacked India at all, but has attacked Pakistan. These two organizations need to be shut down.

No arguments there, though my own comments were not as comprehensive as yours.

I have argued in the past as well that Pakistan's future course of action in Kashmir should be one free of any support for violent groups, indigenous or not.

 

[Destination1]

Guys u may not be aware of kind of Publuc awakning & involvment started in India...Citizen are now openly Questioning Politicians,Burocrats,Admis for there rights,security & Anlysing what they have done against there duties..some of citizen have filed cases against officers & minister who has not performed there duties well in there due Course........it has been realised by Indian Public becoz its only us who suffer in all attcks etc there are no such other people die into it like politician or Admins officers.......

but public of Pak also should get awake of there human & citizen rights no body should use us for there purpose of Wrong.

All these stuff like WAR-Attck with shatter the people life Socially & economically.

 

[daredevil]

Mumbai terror mastermind held in PAK

PTI | December 08, 2008 | 11:03 IST

Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi, accused of masterminding the Mumbai attacks, is among over 20 members of the group arrested by Pakistani security forces during a crackdown in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
The security forces, including the army, on Sunday launched a crackdown on the Lashkar and its front organisation, the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, in *** and other parts of Pakistan. Helicopters were used in the operation in Muzaffarabad, the capital of ***.

Ajmal Amir Iman Qasab, the lone terrorist captured in Mumbai after the attacks, had named Lakhwi as one of the Lashkar men who had planned the strike.

Lakhwi was among more than the 20 Lashkar members arrested in Muzaffarabad during a major army operation on a camp used by the outlawed group, the Dawn newspaper, quoted sources, as saying.

There was no immediate official word on the crackdown.

The Dawn said there were reports that similar actions were planned in some cities and towns of Punjab, a province where the Lashkar and the Jamaat have a significant presence.

Qasab, the terrorist captured in Mumbai, hails from a village in Okara district in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Pakistan is under intense international pressure, including from the US, to take action against the Lashkar for its involvement in the Mumbai attacks. The Lashkar was founded by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed who formed the Jamaat soon after the Lashkar was banned in Pakistan in 2001.

Local residents said they had seen army personnel taking control of an area along Shawai Nullah, five kilometres northwest of Muzaffarabad, where the Lashkar possesses a large camp with several buildings.

The troops sealed off the area after they launched their operation.

"I saw an army helicopter hovering over the area and around 5 pm I heard two or three loud explosions," a woman who lives in the area told Dawn. Another person said the helicopter might have been used to airlift people detained or injured during the operation.

There were also unconfirmed reports of an exchange of fire. Ambulances from hospitals in Muzaffarabad were called to the area by troops, but witnesses said they returned without anyone inside.

In Chehla Bandi area in ***, soldiers checked vehicles bound for the Neelum valley.

 

[Awesome]

Guys u may not be aware of kind of Publuc awakning & involvment started in India...Citizen are now openly Questioning Politicians,Burocrats,Admis for there rights,security & Anlysing what they have done against there duties..some of citizen have filed cases against officers & minister who has not performed there duties well in there due Course........it has been realised by Indian Public becoz its only us who suffer in all attcks etc there are no such other people die into it like politician or Admins officers.......

but public of Pak also should get awake of there human & citizen rights no body should use us for there purpose of Wrong.

All these stuff like WAR-Attck with shatter the people life Socially & economically.

Pakistan has already started into a broad transition where the power is being transferred to the public.

The military, the government are now actually weighing all of their steps against public opinion.

 

[Awesome]

Mumbai terror mastermind held in PAK

PTI | December 08, 2008 | 11:03 IST

Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi, accused of masterminding the Mumbai attacks, is among over 20 members of the group arrested by Pakistani security forces during a crackdown in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
The security forces, including the army, on Sunday launched a crackdown on the Lashkar and its front organisation, the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, in *** and other parts of Pakistan. Helicopters were used in the operation in Muzaffarabad, the capital of ***.

Ajmal Amir Iman Qasab, the lone terrorist captured in Mumbai after the attacks, had named Lakhwi as one of the Lashkar men who had planned the strike.

Lakhwi was among more than the 20 Lashkar members arrested in Muzaffarabad during a major army operation on a camp used by the outlawed group, the Dawn newspaper, quoted sources, as saying.

There was no immediate official word on the crackdown.

The Dawn said there were reports that similar actions were planned in some cities and towns of Punjab, a province where the Lashkar and the Jamaat have a significant presence.

Qasab, the terrorist captured in Mumbai, hails from a village in Okara district in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Pakistan is under intense international pressure, including from the US, to take action against the Lashkar for its involvement in the Mumbai attacks. The Lashkar was founded by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed who formed the Jamaat soon after the Lashkar was banned in Pakistan in 2001.

Local residents said they had seen army personnel taking control of an area along Shawai Nullah, five kilometres northwest of Muzaffarabad, where the Lashkar possesses a large camp with several buildings.

The troops sealed off the area after they launched their operation.

"I saw an army helicopter hovering over the area and around 5 pm I heard two or three loud explosions," a woman who lives in the area told Dawn. Another person said the helicopter might have been used to airlift people detained or injured during the operation.

There were also unconfirmed reports of an exchange of fire. Ambulances from hospitals in Muzaffarabad were called to the area by troops, but witnesses said they returned without anyone inside.

In Chehla Bandi area in ***, soldiers checked vehicles bound for the Neelum valley.

I thought the mastermind was alleged to be Hafiz Saeed?

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Pakistani security forces raided a camp used by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the militant group blamed for last month's attack on Mumbai, and arrested several of the group's members, including a man accused of masterminding the atatcks on India's financial capital.

Among those arrested was Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, an LeT activist whom Indian officials have accused of planning the Mumbai attack, according to an official from Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the political wing of LeT.

Pakistani intelligence officers said six men have been arrested, but gave no names, and there has been no official confirmation of the raid.

Mr Lakhvi, one of LeT's operations chiefs, was named as a ringleader in the Mumbai plot by the lone surviving gunman captured in India, according to Indian officials.

He and Yusuf Muzammil, the head of Lashkar's anti-India operations, gave orders by telephone to the 10 militants who killed at least 171 people in the attack on Mumbai, Indian officials said.

Locals said the operation began in the afternoon in Shawai on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

The operation was mounted after Pakistan came under intense US and Indian pressure to act against jihadi groups.

The arrests took place on Sunday. "

Three people were rounded up in a brief operation against the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa," said an official.

"The raid was carried out to get details about the activities of the group in Kashmir in the wake of allegations by India that LeT was using Pakistani territory for training," he added.

The three people were arrested at the charity's offices outside Muzaffarabad, where LeT is believed to run training camps.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa is run by Hafiz Saeed, who founded Lashkar-e-Taiba in 1989. He abandoned the group when it was banned after India alleged it was behind an attack on parliament in New Delhi.

Senior government officials refused to confirm or deny the arrests, which came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday urged Pakistan to act quickly.

Miss Rice said there was evidence the country's soil had been used by "non-state actors" to mount the attacks.

"I do think that Pakistan has a responsibility to act," she said in a television interview.

The 60-hour siege in Mumbai by Islamic militants left more than 170 people dead and has badly affected relations between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence from Britain.

India says all 10 gunmen involved in the assault came from Pakistan, and has handed Islamabad a list of 20 terror suspects, with demands for their arrest and extradition.

The Mumbai attack has sharply raised tensions between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India.

It is not known whether the military operation and arrests were part of a serious attempt to clamp down on jihadis or a gesture to defuse tension between the two neighbouring countries.

Mumbai attacks: Pakistan arrests suspected mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi - Telegraph

 

[sha123]

This is very good NEWS for the countries India, USA and Pakistan too...
Because I thought this matter will more crucial after the Bakari Edi…

 

[Flintlock]

Pakistan arrests 15 over Mumbai attacks

7 hours ago

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan responded to intense pressure from the US to take action after the Mumbai attacks by arresting 15 people in a raid on a camp in the disputed region of Kashmir, an intelligence official said Monday.

The arrests, which were made late Sunday, came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there was evidence Pakistan had been used by "non-state actors" to mount the deadly attacks on India's financial capital.

"I do think that Pakistan has a responsibility to act," she said in a television interview.

The 15 arrested in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir were from an Islamic charity closely linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, which India accuses of being behind the 60-hour siege, the intelligence official said.

"Security forces raided a relief camp set up by Jamaat-ud-Dawa," he said.

The operation was staged to get details about "the activities of the group in Kashmir in the wake of allegations by India that LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) was using Pakistani territory for training," he said.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa is run by Hafiz Saeed, who founded Lashkar-e-Taiba in 1989. He abandoned the group when it was outlawed after India alleged it was behind a 2001 attack on parliament in New Delhi.

The Mumbai siege left 172 people dead, including nine gunmen, and has badly soured ties between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours, which have fought three wars since independence from Britain.

One gunmen survived and is being interrogated by Indian authorities.

India says all 10 gunmen involved in the assault came from Pakistan, and has handed Islamabad a list of 20 terror suspects, with demands for their arrest and extradition.

Pakistani police arrested the 15 suspects near the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, where Laskhar is active.

Pakistan daily Dawn quoted residents as saying troops had taken control of land on the outskirts of the town occupied by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a site used by Lashkar before the Pakistan government banned the group in 2002.

Pakistani government officials refused to confirm or deny the arrests.

On Sunday, Rice -- who visited both India and Pakistan in the wake of the attacks -- said Islamabad must act quickly to help India prevent follow-on assaults.

But she and Pakistan's foreign ministry denied media reports that Islamabad agreed to a 48-hour timetable set by the United States and India to take action against Pakistanis accused of involvement in the attacks.

Meanwhile, US counter-terrorism and military officials are reassessing their view of Lashkar, and believe it to be more capable and a greater threat than they had previously recognized, The New York Times reported Monday.

Citing unnamed US intelligence officials, the daily said Lashkar had gained strength in recent years with the help of Pakistan's main spy service, which has allowed the group to train and raise money.

But US officials said there was no hard evidence linking Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to the Mumbai attacks, the report said.


AFP: Pakistan arrests 15 over Mumbai attacks