Saudi charity funds Pak terror outfits: Report

  A Saudi Arabian charity believed to be a front for al-Qaeda has provided $15 million (55 million dirhams) to extremist groups in Pakistan for carrying out terror attacks, according to a secret report prepared by the Pakistani police.

A major chunk of the funds provided by the Al-Haramain Foundation went to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, said the report prepared by the Crime Investigation Department. The Al-Haramain Foundation has been banned by the United Nations Security Council for its links to al-Qaeda.

According to the Crime Investigation Department report, Hakimullah Mehsud, the successor to slain Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, has vowed to avenge his killing in a United States drone attack in August.

 “The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is likely to strike major cities of Punjab,” said the report, which was accessed by PTI.

The report further said: “The joint plans of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan are to target Shias. The plans are meant to avenge the recent killing of a top Sipahe-e-Sahaba Pakistan man in Karachi.

Anti-Shia views

“New Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud and his cousin Qari Hussain Ahmed have strong anti-Shia views and ties with the (banned) Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Mohammed.”

The report said activists of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Mohammed have decided during a meeting held in Bahawalpur on August 28 to avenge the killing of Sipah-e-Sahaba chief Allama Ali Sher Hyderi. “The arms, ammunition and explosives had been shifted to some unknown location in Punjab from Dera Ismail Khan on August 27 for this purpose,” the report said.

Hyderi was killed along with his bodyguard by  gunmen in the Sindh province last month.
The federal interior ministry has issued a circular that directed law enforcement agencies to enhance security at the offices of the police force and the intelligence agencies, government buildings and offices and residences of foreign nationals in Punjab province.




‘Forces closing in on Swat Taliban leader’

The Pakistani security forces are closing in on Maulana Fazlullah, the commander of the Taliban in Swat, reports PTI from Islamabad, quoting Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday. “Fazlullah has been surrounded by our troops and he will not be able to escape,” Malik said. The minister also issued a warning to banned Lashkar-e-Islam chief Mangal Bagh Afridi, saying he would meet the same fate as his fighters who had been killed or captured by the security forces.