A melting pot
Reversing initial statements, U.S.
officials said yesterday that the possibility is growing that the
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militant group played a role in Faisal
Shahzad's failed attempt to bomb Times Square on Saturday night, though
one cautioned "there are no smoking guns yet" (NYT). Pakistani officials said Shahzad
received explosives training at a camp run by Qari Hussain and was taken
to South Waziristan by a "lead member" of
Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Punjabi militant organization whose first focus was
India but in recent years has dissolved into smaller cells, many of
which are now aligned with the TTP (Times, WSJ, WSJ). Another Pakistani official said
Shahzad had traveled to North Waziristan (Guardian).
CNN reports that
Shahzad allegedly carried out a dry run of his plan on Friday, but on
the day of the attack, accidentally left the keys to his getaway car in
the Nissan Pathfinder that he believed was about to explode in Times
Square on Saturday evening (CNN). He then took the train back to
Connecticut.
One of the men arrested in Pakistan in connection
with Shahzad's arrest is Muhammad Rehan, a supposed Jaish activist, who
allegedly drove Shahzad to Peshawar last July (LAT, FT). More than a dozen people have
been nabbed across Pakistan, most reportedly involved with Jaish and a
Sunni sectarian group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (WSJ, Daily Times). Shahzad's parents and
other close relatives have reportedly "gone underground," vacating their
homes in Peshawar and Nowshera (Daily Times, McClatchy).
Speculation about
Shahzad's motives for planning the failed attack is rife, as a Pakistani
security official said he was "angry because of the drones" which are used to strike targets in
Pakistan's tribal regions, a sentiment echoed by Pakistan's foreign
minister (FT, ET). As more portraits of Shahzad and
his family emerge, his friends say he became "more reserved and more
religious" over the past year, though many were in disbelief at his
involvement with militancy (NYT, AP, McClatchy, Independent). His wife, Huma Mian, was
born in Colorado and summered in Pakistan, reportedly speaks French and
Urdu, and comes from an educated family, as does Shahzad (AP). MSNBC published Shahzad's resume
yesterday (MSNBC).
Shahzad, who reportedly told the
officers who arrested him on an airplane that was headed to Dubai "What
took you so long? I was expecting this. Are you FBI or NYPD?", has
waived his right to a speedy arraignment and is reported to be
cooperating with investigators (CBS, NYT). The U.S. is planning to give
Pakistan a detailed request for help with the case, and Homeland
Security officials told airlines to speed up their checks of new names
added to no-fly lists (Wash Post,Tel).
More drones
The LA Times
reports on the CIA's secret permission to strike a broader range of
targets with drones in northwest Pakistan, which allows the
Agency to strike suspected militants without knowing their full
identities, based on "pattern of life" analysis (LAT). "We might not always have their
names, but ... these are people whose
actions over time have made it obvious that they are a threat," said a
senior U.S. counterterrorism official.
In Orakzai agency, Taliban
militants cut off the hands of three alleged thieves, and the men were
later transferred to Kohat for treatment (Daily Times, Dawn). And the AP looks at the
relationship between politicians and militants in Pakistan's Punjab
province (AP).
The 'Asian Tigers,' a
previously unknown militant group in Waziristan, have reportedly turned over
custody of the former ISI officer and the journalist kidnapped in
late March to the Haqqani network, reportedly under pressure from the
'Afghan Taliban' (ET). A third hostage, Khalid Khawaja, was founded
dead in North Waziristan late last
month.
To be hanged
Muhammad
Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving gunman of the deadly November 2008
attacks in Mumbai, was sentenced to death by hanging earlier today after
being convicted of murder and waging war against India on Monday (AJE, Wash Post, AP, BBC, AFP, ToI, CNN). Kasab, who was reportedly
"ashen" and wept when the sentence was announced, can appeal to a higher
court and then the Supreme Court, and can also appeal to the Indian
president for mercy; he could be on death row for years.
Karzai comes to Washington
Just
days before Afghan President Hamid Karzai comes calling in Washington,
the GAO released a report finding that more than 21,000 "enemy-initiated
attacks" were recorded in Afghanistan in 2009, a 75 percent increase
over 2008, and attributed the Taliban's "resilience" to several factors,
including ineffective governance, a porous border, and funding from the
narcotics trade (McClatchy). The full report is
available here (GAO-pdf). McClatchy and Reuters look ahead to
Karzai's visit, and Reuters considers some of the financial costs of the
Afghan war (Reuters, McClatchy, Reuters).
The Taliban have
ordered cell phone companies in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz
to shut down their towers at night, claiming international forces were
using militants' signals to track them (Reuters). Four major companies are forced to abide
by the stipulation (Pajhwok).
Midwifing
Afghanistan
On Monday, the Afghan Midwives Association
hosted the sixth annual conference allowing the midwives to gather and
share tips (Pajhwok). 350 registered midwives attended.
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