Pakistani Spies Hear al Qaeda Celebrating Blast

Intelligence is still being gathered however’ it’s becoming clear that al Qaeda, if not directly responsible for this weekends bombing in Pakistan is involved.

The Islamist group that has claimed responsibility for bombing the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was hitherto unheard of, but Pakistani intelligence eavesdroppers heard al Qaeda operatives celebrating the attack.

The group calling itself Fedayeen Islam (Partisans of Islam) made the claim of responsibility for Saturday’s suicide truck bombing that killed at least 53 people in a call to an Islamabad-based correspondent for al Arabiya, an Arab news channel.

“It’s either new, or it might be a distraction,” said a senior intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“What we do know is that there was a lot of celebration among the lower ranks of al Qaeda,” he said.

The group issued several demands, including for Pakistan to end cooperation with the United States, Arabiya said.

There are many different militant groups operating in Pakistan.

All of them are anti-American, some more focused against India, while some are militant Sunni Muslim groups that are driven by hatred of Pakistan’s Shi’ite Muslim minority.

Some also run with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and some are Pashtun tribesmen in the Pakistani Taliban, who see their own country’s government as the enemy.

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