ISLAMABAD, July 1 Authorities now believe a dangerous militant group out to avenge a deadly army assault on a mosque in Islamabad three years ago has carried out several major bombings in the capital previously blamed on the Taliban.

The emergence of the Ghazi Force was part of the anger among many deeply religious Pakistanis over the July 2007 attack by security forces on the Lal Masjid.

The fierce attack, in which scores of young, armed religious students died, inspired a new generation of militants who felt the government of Gen Pervez Musharraf had betrayed them. The death toll still remains in dispute. Former students of the mosque say hundreds died. The government says fewer than 100 were killed.

“Before the Lal Masjid, militants hadn't yet declared war on the state of Pakistan. That changed with Lal Masjid,” said Zahid Hussain, author and terrorism expert who has written extensively on militant groups.

The Ghazi Force is made up of relatives of students who died in the Red Mosque assault. It is named after Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the brother of the mosque's chief cleric. Maulana Ghazi also died in the crackdown.

Islamabad's Inspector General of Police, Kalim Imam, said the group was behind most of the deadliest attacks in the capital in the last three years. The attacks targeted the military, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and a five-star hotel.

The group helped recruit a security official who blew himself up inside the office of the World Food Programme last October, according to Mr Imam. The force also sent a suicide bomber in late 2007 into the mess hall of the commando unit that had attacked the mosque, he said.—AP