A suspected Islamic militant already in police custody may have had a hand in the massacre of 44 people at a religious procession last week, authorities said today. Shafiq-ur Rahman was in jail on kidnapping charges last Tuesday when gunmen opened fire on a Shiite Muslim procession, but Quetta police chief Shoaib Suddle said authorities believe he may have been behind the attacks. Suddle said that during interrogation Rahman had confessed to taking part in past attacks on Shiites in the southern city, including a June attack on Shiite police trainees and a July attack on a Shiite mosque that killed more than 50 worshippers. ``Since he has acknowledged involvement in the June and July attacks, we think he may be involved one way or the other in the March 2 attack,'' Suddle said. He gave no details on the evidence against Rahman. Suddle said Rahman was a hardened militant who had trained in Afghanistan when it was ruled by the Taliban, but declined to say whether he belonged to the Sunni militant groups.
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