Pakistani militants rip female leaders, U.S. ties

Suicide squads
One of the warlords in this region, Baitullah Mehsud, threatened earlier this month to meet Bhutto’s return to Pakistan with suicide attacks, according to local media reports.

Mehsud, who has denied responsibility in Thursday’s attack, has bragged of having 3,000 would-be suicide bombers. His suicide squads have taken credit for attacks against the military and police in northwestern Pakistan, as well as bombings at a hotel in the capital of Islamabad that killed a security guard and at the Islamabad international airport.

Mehsud, whose tribe of the same name is the most violent in South Waziristan province, signed a peace pact with the army in February 2005 promising to deny shelter to foreign al-Qaida fighters in exchange for an end to military operations in the region and compensation for tribesmen killed by the military.

Then Mehsud’s men kidnapped 250 Pakistani soldiers in August, who they are still holding. Three of the soldiers have been beheaded.

Similar deals in other parts of Pakistan’s tribal region have been signed and broken.

Government sympathizers help militants?
Although Musharraf’s government has stepped up military operations against insurgents in the tribal regions in recent months, some militants claim to have support within government structures, including the army and intelligence agencies.

Bhutto alluded to as much Friday, saying it was suspicious that streetlights failed after sunset Thursday when her convoy was inching its way through the streets of Karachi. She said the phones were down, making it difficult to have the lights restored.

“I’m not accusing the government but certain individuals who abuse their positions and powers,” she said.

The militants contacted by the AP Friday refused to say whether they suspected Pakistan’s intelligence agencies or military of involvement in the attack on Bhutto. But they said sympathizers within government structures do indeed help suicide bombers.

“In the Pakistani (secret) agencies and in the army there are so many people who are not secular, who are fundamentalists and will help a suicide bomber to carry out his job,” said Saifullah, a former district leader of Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen. Saifullah uses just one name.

Several senior al-Qaida operatives have been arrested in homes owned or occupied by members of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which was part of a six-party religious alliance that governed North West Frontier Province until the parliament was dissolved earlier this month.

Several militant groups have also been linked to Pakistan’s secret service, including Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Harakat-ul-Islam and Jaish-ul Mohammed. Pakistan has outlawed some of the groups but allowed them to resurface under other names.

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba was banned in 2002 but reconstituted as Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which was outlawed as a terrorist group by the United States. Pakistan, however, has refused to ban it.

More from msnbc.com First Read: Palin pushes abortion issue News Quiz: Which country is near bankruptcy? Dems, GOP battle over voter fraud Can China save the global economy? Gut Check: Is financial crisis affecting your job? Red Tape: AT&T customer caught in 'spam-22'

MORE FROM SOUTH & CENTRAL ASIA

South & Central Asia Section Front

Afghan officials: Taliban jailbreak thwarted Official: More than 100 Taliban killed Pakistan condemns U.S. missile attacks NATO agrees on Afghan drug role Pakistan terror debate grows urgent U.S., India sign nuclear deal World Blog: Our secret war in Pakistan South & Central Asia Section Front   Add South & Central Asia headlines to your news reader: