Report: Militant group claims Pakistan bombing
Police in Pakistan have found a letter from the purported chief of a Sunni Muslim militant group claiming responsibility for this week’s bombing at a Shiite mosque and a shootout in Karachi that left five people dead.
Officials said the letter also warned of more attacks.
The message was seized from the pocket of one of the attackers who was shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with police outside the Shiite mosque on Monday, said Manzoor Mughal, chief of Karachi police investigation department.
Asif Chotto, reputed to be head of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi organisation, made the claim, Mughal said.
“Yes, we have found a letter and this is Asif Chotto’s style to leave a signature” for an attack, he said.
The three attackers were suspected to members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which was banned in 2001 for its alleged involvement in the killing of minority Shiites. Only one of the three survived.
The suspect, who was wounded and identified with a single name as Tehseen, is in custody and he has told investigators that Chotto drove them in a van and dropped them near the mosque for the attack, Mughal said yesterday.
The bombing sparked unrest in Karachi in which a KFC restaurant was set on fire, leaving six of its workers dead.
