KARACHI, 24 September 2004 — A Karachi court yesterday charged ten members of a militant group linked to Al-Qaeda with trying to assassinate the military commander of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi earlier this year.
Lt. Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hayat survived the June 10 gun and bomb attack on his motorcade on Karachi’s busy Clifton bridge, but 11 other people — seven soldiers, three policemen and a civilian — were killed.
The militants, who officials say belong to the previously unknown Jundullah group, were arrested in a series of raids in the days after the attack. They denied all the charges, which included terrorism, murder and attempted murder, said defense lawyer Nehal Hashmi.
They face the death penalty if found guilty during the trial, which will be held from Oct. 4 at a specially built anti-terrorism courtroom inside Karachi’s main jail. The hearing was held in a makeshift courtroom yesterday inside Karachi’s central prison for extra security. “The court read the charges before the accused persons one by one, who denied all the charges,” public prosecutor lawyer Maula Bux Bhatti said.
Investigators say the militants, including their alleged ringleader Attaur Rehman, had ties with Al-Qaeda-linked foreign militants.
