Shammin Ahmed, a leader of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorist group, is now in the custody of Pakistani police. He was captured along with a large quantity of weapons and explosives. It is believed that Ahmed was behind a recent grenade attack near a Christian church in Karachi. A car bomb exploded as police arrived at the scene. Eleven people were wounded.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is an extremist Sunni Muslim terrorist group linked to al-Qaida. It is deemed responsible for a number of bus and church bombings in Karachi, and the murder of five Americans, including journalist Daniel Pearl. In 1999, it attempted to assassinate Pakistan's then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Pakistanis are well aware of the danger posed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. "The city escaped a major catastrophe because of the seizure by police of a huge quantity of explosives and weapons," writes Sarfaraz Ahmed in Pakistan's Daily Times. He asks: "How many more such warehouses are yet to be discovered in the city?"
The United States is working with Pakistan and other countries to stop al-Qaida and groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. President George W. Bush says that effort is paying off:
"Last March, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a mastermind of September 11th, awoke to find himself in the custody of U.S. and Pakistani authorities. Last August 11th brought the capture of the terrorist Hambali, who was a key player in the attack in Indonesia that killed over two-hundred people. We are tracking al-Qaida around the world, and nearly two-thirds of their known leaders have now been captured or killed."
These successes are no cause for complacency. Mr. Bush says that terrorism remains a threat:
"The terrorists continue to plot against America and the civilized world. And by our will and courage, this danger will be defeated."
"We have not come all this way through tragedy and trial, and war," said Mr. Bush, "only to falter and leave our work unfinished."
