Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Denies Presence of Active Terrorists, Calls It ‘Things from Our Past’

Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Denies Presence of Active Terrorists: Following the Pahalgam terror attack, all eyes were on Pakistan as India accused its neighbour of providing safe haven for the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which had taken responsibility for the massacre through its local offshoot the Resistance Front (TRF).

Earlier this month, Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif told the BBC during an interview that violations of this nature usually stem from past contexts, and that Pakistan is not housing active terrorists or terrorist groups and that people who live in the country "do not take part in terror activities, either in Pakistan or across the border in India."

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Asif (after consulting with BBC Pakistan correspondent Azadeh Moshiri) said "no" when asked if there were active terror leaders or active terror groups operating in Pakistan.

"This is something from our past", said Pakistan's defence minister, citing the American aid to the Afghan mujahideen groups in the 1980s during the Soviet-Afghan War. "The terrorists, which it is claimed are in Pakistan or their terrorist outfits are in Pakistan, they were allies of the US efforts in Afghanistan in the 80s. This thing keeps haunting us. They are all 'dry-cleaned' now, but we are still 'dirty'. They still blame us for people who were their allies," he said.

Asif also responded to claims that groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which has engaged in numerous successful fundraising through legitimate means in Pakistan. Both jeM and LeT have violence the target of opposite terror groups, leading to believed that there may be a variation of connection to a civil war going back to the 2019 Pulwama suicide truck bombing and the 2016 Uri Base Attack, that killed 59 Indian armed forces members.

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He insisted that "these (terrorist) leaders are no more. They are living, not dead, but do not indulge in terror activities, either in Pakistan or across the border in India or in any other country."

Last month, speaking to Sky News days after the Pahalgam attack, he said, "We have been doing this dirty work for the US for the past three decades…"

India has persistently alleged that Pakistan is a state sponsor of terrorism and provides materially or logistically support to terrorist groups responsible for many cross-border attacks into Jammu and Kashmir, the December 2001 Indian Parliament attack, the 26 November Mumbai attack, or even cross-border terrorism of other extreme violent and civil threats toward Pakistanis. However, Islamabad continues to deny these allegations.

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