Qaeda-linked group chief caught in Pakistan raid
Ap, Islamabad
Pakistani security agents raided a home near the capital of Islamabad and arrested the head of an al-Qaeda-linked militant group accused of killing hundreds of minority Shias, 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, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. Chotto is believed to have trained suicide bombers and masterminded major attacks against Shias 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 was not authorised to discuss cases with reporters. "He (Chotto) is the person who trained a group of suicide bombers and attacked Shias," the official said. The official would only say that Chotto was involved in several bomb attacks against Shias in the southern city of Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore, Sialkot and elsewhere. Police investigator Farooq Awan, who has been involved in the arrests and interrogations of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's men, said he knew about Chotto's arrest through the media, but he had not been informed about it officially. However, he said Chotto began leading Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in 2002 after its chief, Akram Lahori, was arrested. "Chotto is a very dangerous person. He was involved in all major attacks against Shias in Karachi," Awan said. In June, police said they found a letter from Chotto claiming responsibility for a bombing at a Shia mosque and a shootout in Karachi that killed five people. The message was in the pocket of one attacker killed during a shootout with police guards outside the Shia mosque. According to Pakistan's independent Geo television, Chotto was planning new attacks when captured in Rawalpindi. Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence, mostly blamed on rival majority Sunni and minority Shia extremist groups. Although most of Pakistan's Sunni and Shia Muslims live peacefully together, small radical groups on both sides often target each other's leaders and activists. About 97 percent of Pakistan's 150 million people are Muslim, and Sunnis outnumber Shias by a 4-1 ratio.
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