US offers 5 million Dollar for info leading to Ilyas Kashmiri

The Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami group led by Ilyas Kashmiri has provided fighters for the Taliban in Afghanistan, said the State Department.—File photo

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration is offering $5 million for information leading to the commander of what the US says is a terrorist group that supports al-Qaida.

The State Department says Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri leads the Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami.

It says the group has launched several attacks in India and

Pakistan, including a 2006 suicide bombing against the US Consulate in Karachi that killed four people.

A statement Wednesday encouraged anyone with information about Kashmiri’s location to contact a US embassy or consulate, an American military commander or the US government’s ”Rewards for Justice” office.

Kashmiri also is suspected in a 2009 attack on offices of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and police in Lahore that killed 23 people and injured hundreds.

The group also has provided fighters for the Taliban in Afghanistan.