Karzai blames LJ for rare sectarian attacks

Afghan President Hamid Karzai blamed Pakistan’s extremist Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group for a bomb at a Kabul shrine that killed 59 people, demanding justice from Pakistan as a roadside mine killed another 19 civilians and injured five when it exploded in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Wednesday.
The Ashura was marked with rare sectarian violence in Afghanistan, with Wednesday’s blast following attacks in three Afghan cities a day earlier that killed 59 people and refocused attention on the fragile Afghan security situation. Karzai’s comments are likely to antagonise already tense relations with Islamabad further, which boycotted Monday’s Bonn conference on the future of Afghanistan following NATO air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
“The president said he blamed the Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,” said the Karzai’s spokesman Aimal Faizi, following reports of a purported claim from the faction blamed for scores of similar attacks on Shiites in Pakistan. “The president said that he will demand Pakistan take executive measures in this regard since this group is based in Pakistan so that justice can be done,” Faizi added.
Karzai’s comments came as he visited victims of the Kabul blast in the hospital. “Lashkar-e-Jhangvi which is based in Pakistan has claimed responsibility for this attack… We will investigate the issue very carefully and will discuss it with the Pakistani government,” Karzai said. “This is the first time in Afghanistan, on a very important religious day, they have acted. Without doubt it is hostile to Afghanistan, the people of Afghanistan, and Islam,” Karzai said at a hospital treating victims of the Kabul blast.
‘SPOKESMAN’: A caller who identified himself as a spokesman for the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami had claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s suicide attack in Kabul, in a telephone call to a Reuters reporter hours after the attack. The caller, who identified himself as Abu Bakar Mansoor, said the Shia community was the target. However the claim could not be independently verified.
EVIDENCE: Meanwhile, Pakistan asked Afghanistan to provide evidence to support accusations that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was responsible for the Kabul attack. “Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is a banned organisation. We would encourage Kabul to share with us evidence, if any through official channels,” Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit told AFP by text message. Karzai had said earlier on Tuesday that Pakistan had an important role to play in the Afghan peace process, including in any negotiations with the Taliban.