Skip to main content
CNN

Leader of militant group arrested in Pakistan, police say

From Shaan Khan, CNN
updated 8:28 AM EST, Sat February 23, 2013
Militants claimed responsibility for a February 16 suicide bombing at a crowded marketplace in Quetta that killed at least 89 people.
Militants claimed responsibility for a February 16 suicide bombing at a crowded marketplace in Quetta that killed at least 89 people.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Malik Ishaq was arrested in Pakistan's Punjab province
  • Authorities say Ishaq is the leader of Lashkar-e Jhangvi
  • The group claimed responsibility for a bombing in Quetta that left 89 dead

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani authorities arrested the leader of an outlawed Sunni militant group believed to be behind a suicide bombing at a marketplace that left dozens dead, a senior police official said.

Malik Ishaq, the leader the al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e Jhangvi, was taken into custody Friday at his home in Rahim Yar Khan in the Punjab province, police official Ishfaq Gujar said.

Police did not outline the charges against Ishaq, but said it was part of a crackdown on the group.

Ishaq's arrest followed news that the militant group claimed responsibility for a February 16 suicide bombing targeting Shiites at a crowded marketplace on the outskirts of Quetta that killed at least 89 people and wounded more than 180.

The bombing that sparked nationwide protests, and Pakistan's prime minister ordered a crackdown on the group.

Ishaq has been previously arrested in connection with alleged terror attacks, but has never been charged and convicted.

Laskhar-e Jhangvi was outlawed in Pakistan in 2001. The group was designated a terror organization by the United States in 2003, according to the Long War Journal.

ADVERTISEMENT
Part of complete coverage on
CNN Recommends
updated 6:48 AM EDT, Thu June 20, 2013
With only a 90-day Hong Kong visa, time is quickly running out for Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who leaked details of U.S. surveillance programs.
updated 6:59 AM EDT, Thu June 20, 2013
A documentary on the ill-fated TWA Flight 800, killing 230, claims to offer "solid proof that there was an external detonation."
updated 7:53 AM EDT, Thu June 20, 2013
Phil Black reports why Russia's economy is slowing down and what economists say should to be done to get it moving.
updated 3:13 PM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013
U.S. agents watch in horror as an unknown man in an internet photo appeals for stomach-churning advice -- how to rape the child beside him.
updated 5:09 AM EDT, Thu June 20, 2013
From Cape Desolation to Lake Disappointment and Woolloomooloo, Australia is no stranger to bleak, odd or evocative place names.
updated 8:31 AM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013
In soccer-mad Brazil, the World Cup, Confederations Cup and FIFA have become symbols of corruption and waste.
updated 6:40 AM EDT, Thu June 20, 2013
James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano was a bully, a lover, and a superstar. And thanks to scripts crafted by David Chase he was also, at times, prophetic.
updated 8:59 PM EDT, Tue June 18, 2013
A man who silently stood in Taksim Square and stared at a portrait of the founder of the modern Turkish state, drew hundreds to his vigil.
updated 1:26 PM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013
In a file picture taken on January 30, 2012, Taliban fighters stand with their weapons as they hold the Muslim holy book Koran after they joined Afghan government forces during a ceremony in Herat province. The medieval Taliban who ran Afghanistan with the Koran in one hand and a gun in the other now tweet and talk peace, but they remain a potent threat as a NATO withdrawal looms.
As Afghan forces formally take over security of the country, what is likely to be on the table when the U.S. and the Taliban meet for talks?
updated 4:54 AM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013
North Korea's recent belligerence has many in China, its lone ally, saying enough is enough. But would Beijing really cut Kim Jong Un off?
updated 6:47 AM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013
Whether you have a vague fear of Big Brother or a desire to keep your bank information private, there are ways of securing your data.
Among the intriguing pieces of history in Chinese coastal province Fujian are the tulou: large, round, rammed-earth buildings dating back centuries.
updated 11:39 AM EDT, Tue June 18, 2013
NYU did a great favor not only for the Chinese dissident but also for both the U.S. and Chinese governments, writes James Millward.
updated 7:11 AM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013
Esspresso being made at the Everyman Expresso coffee house July 31, 2012 in the Soho section of New York.
Tired of seeing developed nations take the lion's share of profits from his country's coffee crop, a Ugandan businessman decided on a new plan.
updated 9:22 AM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013
There's a new menace lurking in the streets of London -- exploding sidewalks, which have injured at least 5 people.
ADVERTISEMENT