Pak militants share fundamentalist Islamic principles
Some are al Qaeda, some are Taliban and others are homegrown. But all of Pakistan`s militants share a vision and unshakable beliefs that include a ban on a woman leading the nation and opposition to a close alliance with America.
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Peshawar (Pakistan): Some are al Qaeda, some
are Taliban and others are homegrown. But all of Pakistan's
militants share a vision and unshakable beliefs that include
a ban on a woman leading the nation and opposition to a close
alliance with America.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto blamed al Qaeda and
Taliban militants for the recent deadly suicide bombing that
killed scores in Karachi during a procession to mark her
homecoming after eight years in exile.
The attack came as Pakistan's government is struggling to
contain a rising Islamic militancy in the lawless tribal
regions along the Afghan border in northwestern Pakistan.
Violence linked to militants has killed more than 1,000 people
in a little over three months - most in the restive tribal
belt on the border.
The self-declared Standard-Bearers of Islam have also
rampaged through the region bombing girls’ schools, threatening
female teachers and even beheading two women they charged with
prostitution. They have burned down music and CD shops and
threatened barbers with violence if they trimmed beards. In
some areas, they have even set up their own police forces.
President General Pervez Musharraf has vacillated in the past
between blistering military attacks on the militants and
negotiating peace deals with them. The deals struck in 2005
and 2006 have been blamed for a reconstituted al Qaeda in the
region and a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.
Hardliner anger against Musharraf surged this summer
when the Army raided a pro-Taliban mosque in Islamabad,
leaving more than 100 people dead. Militants launched suicide
bombings and other attacks in response, causing the government
to deploy thousands of troops to the northwestern tribal
regions.
Militants in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province called
the suicide attack as revenge for the Pakistani military operations
in the area and the support Bhutto and Musharraf have offered
the US in its fight against terrorism.
Mahmoud al Hasan, a leader of Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen, a
militant group aligned to Pakistan's religious Jamaat-e-Islami
party, condemned the bombing because of the civilians who were
killed, but attacked both Bhutto and Musharraf as "slaves" of
the US.
He castigated Bhutto for her comments against extremism
and her recent statement that she would accept US assistance
in targeting Osama bin Laden if he is found on Pakistani
territory.
"Benazir Bhutto was totally talking like an infidel. What
should be the reaction of jihadis? They should definitely kill
her. She is an enemy of Islam. She is an enemy of jihadis. She
is an enemy of the country. This is the reaction," said al
Hasan. "If it had killed only Benazir Bhutto then it would
have been okay."
A businessman in the northwestern city of Peshawar who
finances militant groups said the attack against Bhutto was
well-coordinated and planned. The man, who spoke on condition
of anonymity for fear of being arrested by authorities, said
there are hundreds of would-be bombers in Pakistan who are
ready to blow themselves up in such attacks.
He said they find sanctuary in the tribal regions along
the Afghan border where like-minded tribesmen under the
Taliban banner hold sway.
One of the warlords in this region, Baitullah Mehsud,
threatened earlier this month to meet Bhutto's return to
Pakistan with suicide attacks, according to local media
reports.
Bureau Report
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