Suicide car bomb kills 12; Pakistan says it captured US Al Qaeda member

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A suicide car bomb killed at least 12 in Lahore on Monday as Pakistani officials attempted to identify their newest captured militant, this time apparently a US Al Qaeda member.

Following a string of arrests last month leading to the capture of nearly half of the Afghanistan Taliban’s leadership, American and Pakistani officials said they have now arrested Al Qaeda member Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam, according to The New York Times. The Pennsylvania native became an Al Qaeda operative commanding fighters in Afghanistan.

The arrested man was originally identified as Adam Gadahn, an Al Qaeda propagandist from California and the first American to be charged with treason since World War II, Reuters reports. But US officials said they were “highly skeptical” of Mr. Gadahn's arrest from the beginning, reports the Los Angeles Times. Gadahn grew up in Riverside, Calif., where he converted to Islam in 1995. Three years later he moved to Pakistan and began working with Al Qaeda.

“In terms of who may have been arrested, the Pakistani rumor mill belched out three very different possibilities in about six hours," one US official said. "That should tell you something right there. It's by no means clear who, if anyone, the Pakistanis may have captured.”

Adding to confusion over Gadahn's arrest Sunday was the fact that on the same day he released a video calling on Muslims serving in the US armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas, last year.

Pakistan's offensive against the leadership of militant Islamic groups has decreased the frequency of attacks like the one in Lahore on Monday morning, say Pakistani security officials. The suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle outside the offices of an intelligence agency, the Federal Investigation Agency, killing at least 12 people and wounding 61 more, including women taking children to school, officials said.

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