Afghan interior ministry says killing of UAE officials in Kandahar planned in Pakistan

Kabul [Afghanistan], Feb.27 (ANI): The killing of five UAE diplomats in a terror attack in Kandahar was planned in Pakistan, a spokesman of Afghanistan's interior ministry has said. Sediq Seddiqi was quoted by the Voice of America (VoA), as saying that the attack was planned in the Mawlawi Ahmad Madrassa in Chaman, Quetta. The bomb attack in the governor's compound in Kandahar on January 10 killed five UAE diplomats and injured its ambassador. The UAE diplomats and Ambassador Juma Mohammed Abdullah Al Kaabi were attending a dinner at the guest house in the compound the VoA and the Express Tribune said. According to the VOA, at least 30,000 madrassas operate across Pakistan, most of them legal and adhering strictly to religious teaching. It also quoted Pakistan and Afghanistan intelligence sources, as saying that those that are not registered are teaching grounds and recruiting points for militants and Taliban. In Pakistan, much of the militant activity is centered in Balochistan, where 5,500 madrassas operate as boarding schools. Many of them are kept from government scrutiny and are breeding points for terror, the VOA said. (ANI)