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Fifty-Five Jihadi Training Camps Destroyed in Pakistan Earthquake

It is being reported that atleast 55 training camps used by jihadists battling Hindu Indians over Kashmir were wiped out in the 7.7 earthquake over the weekend.

This is a good sign towards peace for the two long-time nuclear rivals who have been battle for commplete control over Kashmir for decades. Many on both sides have died for the cause.

Arun Sahgal of the United Service Institute in New Dehli believes Pakistani terrorists will be so absorbed in relief and survival efforts that the Kashmir cause will become of minor significance to them for the time being.

Pakistani military sources approximate the loss of its soldiers alone to be at the 1000 mark. Concrete roofs in their bunkers along the Kashmir border completely collapsed.

Within hours of the quake, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (a Seikh) phoned Pakistani President Pervez Musharaf to offer help. Both Indian and Pakistani Military Chiefs have been in touch with one another since the quake. This could be a very big step towards the ultimate peace process between the two countries/cultures.

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Head of AQ Group and Major Player in Killing Shia In Pakistan ARRESTED

ASSOCIATE PRESS

Pakistani security agents raided a home near the capital of Islamabad and arrested the head of an al-Qaida linked outlawed militant group accused of killing hundreds of minority Shiites, a security official said Wednesday.

Asif Chotto, the reputed head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was captured with other suspects in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, according to the AP.

Chotto is believed to have masterminded major attacks against Shiites in recent years.

Although Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao refused to confirm or deny the arrest, another intelligence official said Chotto was in the custody of a Pakistani spy agency and was being questioned.

"He is a major catch. We were looking for him for the past three years," said the official, who also did not
want to be named because he is not authorized to discuss cases with reporters.

The official gave no further details other than to say that Chotto was involved in several bomb attacks against Shiites in the southern city of Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore and Sialkot and elsewhere.

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posted by CTT at Saturday, October 01, 2005

Pakistan Busts Biggest AQ Base in the Tribal Region of That Country

Pakistan busts tribal region’s biggest Al Qaeda Base

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Pakistan has busted the biggest Al Qaeda base in its North Waziristan tribal zone and recovered huge caches of weapons in a swoop that will cut violence in neighbouring Afghanistan before key elections, the military said on Thursday.

The militant den was in a madrassa, or Islamic school, and a nearby compound owned by the son of a former minister of the hardline Taleban regime that ruled Afghanistan until late 2001, Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain said in the city of Peshawar.

He said the owner, Sirajuddin Haqqani, whom he described as a senior Al Qaeda insurgent, had escaped after a tip off.

“The raid on the Haqqani madrassa and compound is still going on but we can say we have busted the biggest Al Qaeda terrorist den in North Waziristan,” Hussain, who commands troops in northwestern Pakistan, told reporters.

“We have recovered 15 truckloads of ammunition and weapons from there and arms and ammunition are still being recovered,” he said.

“We also busted a communications centre which was used to coordinate operations in Afghanistan.”

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