WASHINGTON: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan made a startling revelation that about "30,000 to 40,000" terrorists who had trained and fought in "some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir" were in his country, but added his country cannot be blamed for the Pulwama suicide attack as it was carried out by a Kashmiri youngster. Notably, Khan’s remarks contradict the Pakistan Army’s position on the existence of terror groups.
At an event in the US, Imran said, "Until we came into power, the governments did not have the political will, because when you talk about militant groups, we still have about 30,000-40,000 armed people who have been trained and fought in some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir. In 2014, the Pakistani Taliban slaughtered 150 schoolchildren at Army Public School. All the political parties signed the National Action Plan and we all decided that we will not allow any militant groups to operate inside Pakistan," he said at the US Institute of Peace. He said his government was the first to start disarming terror groups. "This is the first time it's happening. We've taken over their institutes, their seminaries. We have administrators there," he added.
At another event, Imran also said "40 different militant groups" were operating from Pakistan. Past governments, particularly in the last 15 years, were not in control and did not tell the US about the exact "truth on the ground," he said. "We were fighting the US war on terror. Pakistan has nothing to do with 9/11. Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan. There were no militant Taliban in Pakistan. But we joined the US war. Unfortunately, when things went wrong we did not tell the US exactly the truth on the ground," Khan told US lawmakers at the Capitol Hill. "Part of the reason was, our governments were not in control. There were 40 different militant groups operating within Pakistan," he stated at a reception hosted by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Chairperson of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus.
Phulwama attack an indigenous thing
To a question on whether 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, arrested recently, would stay in jail or be let off again, Imran said his government had already decided "not to allow any armed militias in our country" in the interest of Pakistan, but because the terror group Jaish- e- Mohammed claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack, "Pakistan suddenly came in the limelight." He alleged that the attack was "clearly an indigenous thing..."
Imran said though JeM is Pakistan-based terror outfit, it has a presence in Kashmir. "A Kashmiri boy was radicalised after the brutalities of the Indian security forces and he carried out the attack, but suddenly Pakistan came into the limelight," Khan was quoted as saying.
Pakistan-based JeM has carried out umpteen terror attacks in India, including the one on Parliament on December 13, 2001. The latest outrageous action by the outfit was in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14, when a suicide bomber of JeM, identified as Adil Ahmed Dar, rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a CRPF convoy on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, killing 40 security personnel.
Owning up
Khan's admission reinforces India's assertion about terror attacks by groups operating from Pakistani soil. Sources in the government in New Delhi said they were “glad” the Pakistani Prime Minister was “owning up” the existence of these groups and that it is important for the Pakistani leadership to act on this knowledge by "destroying the breeding ground of terrorists". "This is what we have been saying all along. Glad that Pakistani PM is owning up to it. Pakistani leadership, time and again, has accepted this fact. It is, however, equally important for the Pakistani leadership to act on this knowledge by destroying the breeding ground of terrorists in areas under the control of Pakistan by taking credible and irreversible action," Indian government sources said.
