By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia 

SARGODHA, Pakistan- On Wednesday, five Muslim American youths were arrested in Sargoha city of Punjab province.  They allegedly were on their way to the Taliban sanctuary in the tribal areas of Pakistan with the intention of training to fight in Afghanistan against American troops.

Pakistani officials said these men from the Washington suburbs whose ages range from their late teens to their early 20s, had been in contact through YouTube with a Pakistani militant with links to al-Qaida before their arrival in Karachi last month.  “They are believed to have come here to join jihad,” one Pakistani security official said.

In a statement released on Wednesday by the FBI said that it was in contact with the families of the five men, as well as law enforcement authorities in Pakistan.  A second Pakistani official said, “No charge has been framed against them.  Investigations are underway as to whether they have any links with extremist groups.”

Usman Anwar, police chief of Sargodha said after arriving in Karachi, they attempted to join an extremist Islamic school near Karachi and approached another school in the eastern city of Lahore.  They were refused in both places because of their Western demeanor and their inability to speak Urdu.  After arriving in Sargodha, they were arrested at a four-room home in a government housing complex.

Pakistani news reports said the suspects were being investigated for links with Jaish-e-Mohammed, a banned Islamic militant group with links to al-Qaida and the Taliban.  It is one of several factions that have for years been fighting Indian forces in the disputed region of Kashmir.  The group is also suspected of involvement in high-profile attacks, including the murder of US Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and an assassination attempt of Pervez Musharraf, the former Pakistani president. One of their leaders, who allegedly hid the five men in his house in Sargodha, was also arrested.  

According to Pakistani security officials, in the past, young men of Muslim origin have travelled from the west to seek out training on the use of explosives and in suicide attack methods, notably in the South Waziristan region, near the Afghan border.  

The arrest comes on the heels of David Headly, a US national with Pakistani roots, accused of scouting targets for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, who pleaded not guilty in Chicago on Wednesday at his first hearing.

Officials said three Pakistanis had also been detained, one who is believed to have been linked to a suicide bomb attack on an air force bus outside a base in Sargodha two years ago, in which eight were killed.

For more information, please see:

Times of India-5 US Youth on Jihad Quest Held in Pak  – 11 December 2009

FT.com- Pakistan Accuses US Men of Quest for Jihad– – 11 December 2009

Aljazeera.net- US Men in Pakistan ‘Jihad Quest’– 11 December 2009