Pakistani authorities arrest suspects in deadly bombing

KARACHI, Pakistan -- Paramilitary commandos stormed houses in Pakistan's largest city Monday, arresting three men who were charged in last month's deadly bombing at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi.

The three are members of Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen al-Almi, said Maj. Gen. Salahuddin Satti of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers.

The organization is a splinter group of Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen, or Movement of Holy Warriors, an al-Qaida-affiliated extremist group whose members fought in Afghanistan and Kashmir, said provincial police chief Syed Kamal Shah.

Dozens of people have been rounded up in connection with the June 14 bombing, which killed at least 12 Pakistanis and injured about 50. However, the three men arrested Monday were the first to be formally charged.

Satti presented the men to reporters, identifying them as Mohammad Hanif, Mohammad Imran and Sheikh Mohammad Ahmed.

"We carried out the operation against America," Hanif told reporters.

"We consulted about it and after that, we filled the vehicle with explosives and one companion drove it to the American Consulate."