Pakistan Arrests Militant
Authorities have arrested an Islamic militant leader suspected of masterminding two attacks on Christians last year that killed 11 people, intelligence officials said Tuesday.
Pakistani police arrested Abdul Jabbar, a commander of the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, in a raid near the central town of Sargodha on Monday, one official said.
Jabbar is believed to have organized an attack on a Christian missionary school in the hilltop resort of Murree in August that killed six Pakistanis, and another attack on a Christian hospital in the town of Taxila the same month that killed four nurses and one attacker.
“We suspect he masterminded these two attacks,” an intelligence official said.
Islamic militants, angry over Pakistan’s support for the U.S., have been blamed for attacks on Western and Christian targets over the last year and a half.
Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad is fighting Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf banned the group last year as part of efforts to contain Islamic militancy.
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