Pakistan's security forces say they have arrested a militant leader wanted in connection with attacks that have killed dozens of minority Shia Muslims. Asif Choto, said to be a senior figure in the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Sunni Muslim group, was arrested close to the capital, Islamabad, officials said. Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao refused to confirm or deny the reports. | "I can say no more!" |
The details of Mr Choto's arrest remain confused. Some reports say he was detained in a raid on a home near the capital, others that he was arrested when a car was stopped on the road between Rawalpindi and Lahore. Police have linked Mr Choto to attacks on Shias in Karachi and Sialkot. The most deadly was the attack on a Shia mosque in Sialkot in October 2004 that left 30 people dead. The latest attack police have linked Mr Choto to is that on a Shia mosque in Karachi on 30 May this year. It sparked a riot that left six people dead in a KFC.
Police say they found a letter written by Mr Choto in the possession of one of the arrested mosque attackers. One security official told the AFP news agency: "He was the most wanted sectarian militant in Pakistan." He said another Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant, named Rashid, alias Shahid Satti, was arrested with Mr Choto. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which was banned in 2001, has been held responsible for many attacks on Shias since its formation in 1996. Named after hardline cleric, Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, analysts say most of its fighters were trained in Afghanistan at the time of the Taleban regime. About 80% of Pakistanis are Sunni Muslim and almost 20% Shia. The schism dates to a 7th century dispute over the heir to the Prophet Mohammad.