A united LeT will continue its efforts to destabilise India and personally step in to worsen matters for major terror operations along the lines of 26/11, claims Vicky Nanjappa
In a blow to the Narendra Modi government, the Gujarat high court-appointed Special Investigation Team on Monday concluded that the controversial police encounter with college girl Ishrat Jehan and three others was fake as they were killed prior to the incident. Following the finding by SIT, the high court will pass a final order on Wednesday whether to file a fresh first investigation report to include the murder charge.
Against the backdrop of reports that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba is eyeing isolated islands in Maldives, India will soon ink an agreement with the southern neighbour to combat terror threats jointly.
Besides RDX, two pistols were also recovered from the duo, Shaheen and Shamil.
US special forces came away with hard drives, DVDs and a trove of documents from the Abbottabad safe house of Osama bin Laden which might tip American intelligence to Al Qaeda's operational plan and lead the manhunt to his presumed successor Ayman al Zawahiri.
The Pakistan government presented evidence against Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects before an anti-terrorism court for their involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
Did Pakistani-American terror suspect David Headley try to eliminate his woman 'friend' -- a former woman hotel executive -- who could provide vital evidence to investigators?
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, told rediff.com, "Anyone who indulges in acts of terrorism on either side of the border should be held accountable and should be dealt with in accordance with the law, whether it is Ajmal Kasab or anyone."
While disposing of the application, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif directed the federal and Punjab governments to ensure that foolproof security is provided to Lakhvi and his counsel Khwaja Sultan.
Official sources said the first one was the truck driver who drove them to Samroli in Udhampur from Kulgam and other one was a bakery owner at Pulwama.
A team of the Bengaluru police, which had been camping in Bihar, on Tuesday returned with Akbar, who they say had planned to carry out a series of explosions in the city.
"We have been very clear why this programme, particularly our Rewards for Justice programme, was put in place. We want to see this individual brought to justice," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told media persons.
Three security establishments in Nashik including army's Deolali camp were recceed by arrested Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror suspect Shaikh Lalbaba Mohammed Hussain for a Lahore Police Academy-type attack, Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad said on Monday.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has accused the army, which covertly supports the 2008 Mumbai attacks perpetrator Lashkar-e-Tayiba, of playing a double game in the ongoing war on terror, and an "abundance of evidence backs him up," Bruce Riedel, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, has said.
However, Rana's lawyer Patrick Blegen has said in a new motion filed in a Chicago court that as a result of FBI raids on Rana's businesses and his detention, his businesses have effectively been shut down and are worth nowhere near what they were previously estimated. According to court filings, Rana allegedly conspired to bring foreigners to the US under false pretences.
India has approached the United States seeking access to Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the Pakistani Canadian accused in the Mumbai terror attack case, and a reply in this regard is expected next month.
Rana's confession would put Pakistan in a spot of bother, as once he starts speaking in court the names of several persons associated with the 26/11 attack and the planning behind it will come out in the open. The onus would then be on Pakistan to bring these persons to justice.
Lakhvi's lawyer Khwaja Sultan, who has been accused by the prosecution of filing numerous petitions to delay the trial, told PTI that his client would not approach the Lahore High Court for bail.
Pakistan has handed over another dossier on Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley to India seeking more information about his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik met Interior Minister Rehman Malik in Islamabad, briefing him over the latest development concerning the issue.Headley, an American citizen of Pakistani origin, was arrested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in October 2009.
A suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant arrested for allegedly planning to carry out bomb blasts in the capital was on Saturday acquitted by a Delhi court. Mukhtar Ahmed Khan, arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police in June, 2007, was acquitted by Additional Sessions Judge S S Rathi as the prosecution failed to prove its case.
Authorities in northwest Pakistan have launched a crackdown against banned terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba that are engaged in relief efforts for flood victims and closed down 16 camps set up by these organisations.
"Indeed, nearly all of the jihadi groups operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, LeT, and others have joined together in an extended terrorist network that shares the same goals, including destabilising Afghanistan and destroying the Pakistani state," said Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Ambiguous replies about his travels abroad aroused the suspicions of airport officials and led to the arrest of Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative, David Headley, charged with criminal conspiracy in the Mumbai terror attacks.
The LeT was more interested in a spectacular operation in India than in Denmark. The 313 Brigade was more interested in a spectacular operation in Denmark than in India. It was the FBI's successful monitoring of the plans for an attack in Copenhagen which led to Headley's arrest and the subsequent discovery of his role in India, says B Raman
Pakistani authorities have declined India's request to send an inquiry commission to interrogate Lashkar-e-Tayiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects charged with involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. India had sent an official letter expressing its willingness to allow a Pakistani commission to visit India to interview key officials linked with the probe into the 2008 Mumbai terror strike that killed 166 people.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has became one of only four terrorist leaders for whom the United States has offered a bounty of $10 million, joining the likes of Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar.
Hafiz Saeed may mellow down his rhetoric against the US, but he is unlikely to curb his anti-India activities, says Vicky Nanjappa
Police have detained a computer engineer and is on lookout for two more persons in connection with the March 22 deadly car bomb explosion that left one dead and wounded 20 in south Kashmir.
Faislabad was one of the places where the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan set up a presence with the help of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Despite the offensive lunched by the Pakistani Army against it, the TTP continues to maintain its influence in the region, writes B Raman
A team of National Investigation Agency is likely to visit the United States soon to question 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawur Hussain Rana for helping Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley to disguise as immigrant consultant during his visits to India.
A Pakistani anti-terror court on Wednesday framed charges against Lashkar-e-Tayiba's operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six others for involvement in the Mumbai attacks and declared 16 people, including Ajmal Amir Kasab, as proclaimed offenders.
Amid reports that the Obama administration was upset over Indian officials going into the details provided by Headley, State Department spokesman P J Crowley said the US values cooperation with India on combating terrorism but it places responsibility on both countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a review meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and top intelligence establishment over the Nagrota encounter in which four terrorists were neutralised, government sources said.
A top Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant, active in the area for the last 20 years was on Saturday arrested in Patnazi area of Bonjwa belt of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
Addressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, America's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke identified the Lashkar as the group, which planned and executed the 26/11 attacks.
For bringing permanent Indo-Pak peace, the Obama administration must push Pakistan to hand over Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists responsible for the Mumbai attacks and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim to India, a former top White House official has said.
The security forces eventually blasted the building where he was hiding and firing from, media reports said.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who has a $10 million US bounty on his head, has said that he moves about like an "ordinary person" in Pakistan and his fate is not in the hands of America.
The family of Ishrat Jahan, the teenage from Mumbra near Mumbai who was killed in an encounter along with three other alleged terrorists have dismissed the news report attributed to National Intelligence Agency which claimed that Ishrat was a Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative.
Waseem Shah, who was wanted in various terror-related cases, was killed along with Naseer, another local boy who had joined the insurgency in May this year.