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Posted on 09/29/2002 3:27:16 PM PDT by knighthawk
MULTAN: Two suspected militants wanted for their involvement in a massacre at a Catholic church last year were killed in a fierce 18-hour gunbattle on Sunday, Pakistani police said.
The two men, members of the Sunni Islamic extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, were being sought for their role in the October 28 attack on St. Dominic's Roman Catholic Church in Behawalpur, 730 km southwest of Islamabad.
Sixteen people were killed in the attack.
The two suspects died in a shootout on Sunday in Jhang, a remote farming area in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, Senior Police Superintendent Tariq Masood said. Police said a third man was arrested, but did not release his name.
Masood identified one of those killed as Zafar Iqbal, who police believe was a high-ranking member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a militant group outlawed by President Gen Pervez Musharraf in January as part of his wide-sweeping crackdown on extremists.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has been linked to the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, as well as attacks on Christians and minority Shias.
Many of the group's ten leaders have either been arrested or killed by police during months of operations. After Sunday's shootout, police said they were stepping up efforts to find the group's remaining members.
Police said they recovered hand grenades, rifles, pistols and ammunition in the shootout.
Musta taken some real planning and a lot of courage to shoot up a church.
Glad they finally ran into someone who could shoot back.
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