Agence France Presse

Lucknow, July 15:

Five gunmen who attacked a disputed religious site in northern India were Islamic militants who came from Pakistan, police said today, adding that two gun-runners linked to the assault have been arrested in Kashmir. The five were all members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba guerrilla force, which India blames for an attack on its parliament in December 2001 and on a Hindu temple in western Gujarat state in 2002, a police chief said. The militants were gunned down by Indian troops when they blasted their way into a heavily-guarded religious complex claimed

by both Hindus and Muslims in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya on July 5. A sixth person who has not been identified was also killed. “The militants crossed over into India from Pakistan in August 2004 and began their plans to attack the shrine,” said Yashpal Singh, chief of the police force of Uttar Pradesh state where Ayodhya is located. “They were all foreign nationals,” Singh told reporters in state capital Lucknow, without elaborating.

Police chief Singh said two gun-runners linked to the assault were arrested in Kashmir and had provided vital information on the modus operandi of the attackers. Two of the slain guerrillas had been identified, he said, adding that the five lived in a New Delhi rented house before travelling to Ayodhya. The PTI news agency, quoting unidentified police sources, said the slain rebels spoke Sindhi or Baloch, dialects used in some regions of Pakistan. The drivers of the vehicles were traced through satellite phone calls they made after the weapons delivery. Police in Kashmir said the alleged associates transported arms and ammunition to the militants at Ayodhya in two jeeps, one of which was exploded as a diversion during the attack.