Pakistan Army Raids Suspected LeT Compound In Azad Kashmir

Pakistan Army Raids Suspected LeT Compound In Azad Kashmir (NSI News Source Info) MUZAFFARABAD - December 8, 2008: An operation was launched by army personnel on the outskirts of the Azad Kashmir (AK) capital on Sunday, on a site housing some infrastructure currently used by Jamaat-ud-Dawa (Jud), an organisation headed by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. Sources said over 20 members of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), including its AK chief were arrested. The wanted LeT commander, Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi was also reportedly amongst those arrested. There were reports that such action has also been planned in major cities in the Punjab Province. However, there was no official confirmation from the Interior Ministry or the Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR) on the crackdown, despite frequent requests by the media. Local police and civil administration officials were completely in the dark about the operation and did not hide their ignorance in this regard. However, residents said that they saw army personnel taking control of the area along Shawai Nullah, some 5 kilometres northwest of Muzaffarabad, where JuD owns a sizeable piece of land and several buildings. Earlier, before being the ban was imposed, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), founded by Hafiz Saeed, occupied this area. ‘I saw an army helicopter hovering over the area and later at around 5 pm I heard two to three loud bangs,’ a housewife told Dawn from the area by telephone. Another witness said: ‘The helicopter landed at one spot and may have airlifted the people detained or injured during the operation.’ There were unconfirmed reports of an exchange of fire between the two sides. The army personnel had also called ambulances from the city hospitals to the area, but witnesses said they returned without any casualties. According to witnesses, army personnel were also intercepting and checking public transport vehicles at Chehla Bandi, bound for the Neelum valley. A JuD official denied any knowledge of an operation against the organisation.

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Pakistan Denies US, India Deadline Agreement

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - December 8, 2008: Islamabad on Sunday denied reports it has agreed to a 48-hour timetable to take action against Pakistanis accused of involvement in the Mumbai attacks. The Washington Post reported that Pakistan had agreed to a deadline imposed by the United States and India to arrest three people and formulate a plan to take action against a militant group accused of involvement in the attacks. Indian National Akali Dal activists burn a Pakistani national flag during a protest in New Delhi The US daily quoted an unnamed Pakistani official saying India had asked Pakistan to hand over a leader of the group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, as well as a former director of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. Some Indian papers allege the powerful spy agency trained the attackers. But Pakistan's foreign office on Sunday denied any such deadline had been set. 'There is no deadline, India has not set any deadline, this is all rubbish,' foreign office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told AFP. The 60-hour Mumbai siege by Islamic militants has badly affected relations between India and Pakistan, 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. Suspicion has focused on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group which has fought Indian control of divided Kashmir. Lashkar was blamed for an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 which pushed the two nations to the brink of war.