Pakistan arrests 44 over Kashmir bomb

BLAST HEIGHTENED TENSIONS

PAKISTANI authorities have arrested dozens of suspects over the suicide bombing in Indian Kashmir that killed 40 troops.

They included the brother of the leader of the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad group, which India blamed for the February 14 attack.

The bombing triggered a dangerous escalation that last week pushed Pakistan and India close to all-out war over Kashmir.

Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said 44 suspects were arrested, including Mufti Abdul Rauf, brother of the group’s leader Masood Azhar.

The ministry said Rauf was among a list of suspects in a file on the bombing that India gave to Pakistan over the weekend through diplomatic channels.

India urged Islamabad to take action against suspects linked to the killing of its soldiers in the region, which is split between the countries and claimed by both.

Also detained was Hammad Azhar, the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar.

Interior secretary Azam Suleman Khan said Pakistan will take further action against suspects linked to the attack if New Delhi provides additional evidence.

“So far India has not given evidence,” he said. “We received only some names.”

The arrests were announced hours after Pakistan’s navy claimed it had spotted an Indian submarine approaching its territorial waters in the Arabian Sea.