By DPA
Islamabad : Police in Pakistan have identified the terrorist network behind a bomb attack at a religious gathering in the southern city of Karachi last year that killed more than 50 people, the media reported Saturday.
The bombing targeted Sunni Muslim worshippers on April 2006 while they were celebrating the birth anniversary of the Prophet Mohammed. Several renowned scholars also died in the incident.
The Sindh home department claimed in a statement that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, Mohammed Siddiq, a member of a small group linked with banned Islamic terrorist organization, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Dawn newspaper said.
Police have arrested three alleged terrorists of the six-member gang, based in the country's troubled North-West Frontier Province, over charges of preparing and brainwashing people for suicide attacks in Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan. The other three are still at large.
A DNA test confirmed the identification of the suicide attacker, matching a sample of blood from the bomber's head found at the scene with that of Siddiq's brother, the statement said.
The group was also allegedly involved in several other terrorist attacks in Karachi, which has experienced increasing sectarian violence in recent years.
More than 70 people were killed in a suicide bombings at two Shiite mosques in Karachi in May 2004.