Kashmiri, Afghan groups blamed

"Both the suicide bombers have been identified. One of them belonged to Kashmir and the other was from the North West Frontier Province, said Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, information minister, referring to Pakistan-held Kashmir.

Pakistan's North Western Frontier Province borders Afghanistan.

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"It's a huge network of terrorists having tentacles from Kashmir to Afghanistan. They also have international ties," he said.

Two suicide car bombers tried to ram explosives-laden vehicles into Musharraf's limousine on Thursday in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, 12 miles from the capital, Islamabad.

Fifteen people were killed and 45 wounded in the attack, the second against Musharraf in less than two weeks. A powerful bomb exploded moments after his motorcade crossed a bridge on the same Rawalpindi road on Dec. 14.

Musharraf, a staunch ally of the United States in the war against terror, blamed Islamic extremists for the attacks and vowed not to falter in fight against "terrorism."

Interior Ministry officials blamed a little-known Kashmiri group, Al Jehad, for Thursday's attack.

Hard-line Islamists are furious with Musharraf for supporting the US-led war in which Pakistan arrested hundreds of al-Qaeda militants and handed them over to the United States.

Musharraf's recent peace overtures with India and attempts to resolve the protracted dispute with Pakistan's nuclear-armed South Asian rival over Kashmir has also fueled militants' anger.