Two relatives of the leader of the militant group that India has blamed for last month’s suicide bombing in Indian Kashmir are among dozens of suspects who have been detained by Pakistani authorities, VOA news reports.
Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said Tuesday Mufti Abdur Rauf, the brother of Masood Azhar, leader of the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, was among 44 people who were taken into “preventative custody.” Hammad Azhar, another close relative of Azhar, was also detained.
The February 14 bombing, which killed at least 40 paramilitary police, pushed Pakistan and India to the brink of war.
Both sides said they downed enemy jets after the bombing, which triggered violent outbreaks at the border and disrupted trade and travel. Tensions have eased in the past few days.
The bombing was the deadliest attack in Indian Kashmir since the Himalayan region was gripped by a violent separatist insurgency three decades ago.
India blamed the attack on Pakistan, whom it accuses of harboring groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammad that carry out terror strikes in India. Pakistan has denied all involvement.
Kashmir, divided between the two nuclear-armed countries since 1947, is at the heart of the tension between the neighbors. Two of their three wars have been fought over the Himalayan region while an attack on India’s parliament, also blamed on the Jaish-e-Mohammad, brought them to the brink of a fourth war in 2001.
Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989, demanding Indian-controlled Kashmir be united either under Pakistani rule or established as an independent country.