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| India-Pakistan |
| Hakeemullah Group claims responsibility for madrassa attack |
| 2008-05-03 |
| The Hakeemullah Group, a militant organisation associated with Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, on Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in the Khyber Agency on Thursday, source said. Eighteen people were killed in the attack when a suicide bomber attacked a madrassa run by a religio-militant organisation, Amar Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkar (Promotion of Virtue and Suppression of Vice). Amar Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkar chief Haji Namdar was the target of the attack. “The Hakeemullah Group has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on Haji Namdar,” sources in the religio-militant organisation told Daily Times. Links with government: The sources said the Hakeemullah Group had told the organisation that the suicide attack on its chief Namdar was “the result of its links with the government and the expulsion of Hakeemullah Group by the Amar Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkar at the behest of the government”. The sources said Namdar “held the Hakeemullah Group responsible for all the mess in the Khyber Agency.” They quoted Namdar as saying his organisation had sheltered members of the Hakeemullah Group in the past. The sources also quoted Namdar as saying that his organisation did not want any confrontation with the government or security forces. Namdar was also quoted as saying that his organisation would fight alongside the security forces against militants. Meanwhile, the body of the suicide bomber killed in the blast was handed over to an arbitrary jirga sent by the Hakeemullah Group at Bar Qambarkhel in Bara tehsil of the Khyber Agency. Namdar and Qambarkhel Shura members were also present at the occasion. |
| Posted by:Fred |