Islamabad: Hours after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam killed more than 26 people, neighboring Pakistan, in its first reaction to the attack, claimed it has “got nothing to do" with the incident. The country also asserted it “rejects terrorism in all its forms".
In a statement, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said, “Pakistan has no link with the Pahalgam terror attack". He also asserted the attack was “home-grown". “We do not support terrorism in any form, and locals should not be a target for terrorists, and we have no doubt about it," he asserted.
“Pakistan has no connection with this. This is all home-grown, there are revolutions in different so-called states against India, not one, not two, but dozens, from Nagaland to Kashmir, in the south, in Chattisgarh, in Manipur. In all these places, there are revolutions against the Indian government,” he claimed.
Though there has been no official comment from the Indian side so far blaming Pakistan-based terrorists for the attack, Asif sought to distance Islamabad from the incident while speaking to Live 92 news channel. There was also no immediate response from Indian officials to Asif’s comments.
The attack comes a week after Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Asim Munir, recently referred to Kashmir as the country's “jugular vein”. On April 16, Munir said, "It was our jugular vein, it is our jugular vein, we will not forget it. We will not leave our Kashmiri brethren in their heroic struggle against the Indian occupation".
Several intelligence officers indicated that Munir’s inflammatory speech may have emboldened The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy that has claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, to plan a “spectacular strike”.
|
Pakistan on high alert: Report Pakistan is now on high alert and is expecting a retaliation from Indian security forces after the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam this week, PTI news agency reported. While Pakistan has put its Air Force along the border areas on alert, former Pakistani High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit has also said that India is most likely to retaliate. Former Pakistani ambassador to Germany and ex-High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, said: "I am sure Islamabad is taking all possible measures to thwart any Indian misadventure against Pakistan. I have no doubt this time Pakistan’s response would be very hard." The news agency further reported that Pakistan Air Force's reconnaissance aircraft are monitoring the airspace adjacent to India. However, there has been no official confirmation from Pakistan. |
