A little-known Al-Qaeda affiliate in the restive North Waziristan tribal region gave the go-ahead for the attempted rocket attacks in and around the federal capital last month, a senior investigator has said. According to Dawn newspaper, the investigator said that the Al- Qaeda affiliate, the Islamic Jihad Group (IJG) based in Mirali in North Waziristan, had approved the plot before the Pakistani masterminds executed it in early October. "While the fingers were in Islamabad, the tail was in Mirali," the investigator said requesting anonymity. Investigations and interrogation of the suspects have led the government to conclude that the IJG leader, Yakhyo aka Nadzhmiddin Kamilidinovich Janov, an Uzbek militant said to be residing in Mirali, a subdistrict of the North Waziristan tribal region, had given the go-ahead to the plotters to carry out the attacks, the investigator said. All those involved in the botched-up plot have since been rounded up, including its mastermind and his two close associates. Eleven people have been formally charged in the rocket attack case, including the masterminds -- Khalil, Ali Ahmad Gondal and Munir.
The IJG is an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and is believed to be closer to Al-Qaeda than its mother organization, investigators said. It was formed after its founding members, Yakhyo and his deputy, Mansur Sohail aka Abu Huzaifa, also an ethnic Uzbek, fell out with the IMU leader over operational and administrative matters, investigators said. While the IMU is based in Wana, South Waziristan, the IJG leadership has moved to neighboring North Waziristan due to security reasons, they said.