New Delhi, Sep 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) First, it was Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif admitting that the country's governments have been supporting terrorists for 30 years, which incidentally came days after the Pahalgam massacre in Jammu and Kashmir where 26 innocent civilians were brutally killed on April 22, 2025. Now, it is Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself declaring at the United Nations that his country harboured terrorists, but they were now under control through what he implied were targeted encounters.
Statements assuring Pakistan has turned over a new leaf ring hollow, with credible reports and historical evidence of elements within its army providing training, safe havens, and logistical support to outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, among others.
Barely four months ago, photographs surfaced showing senior political leaders, including the Prime Minister’s Advisor on Political Affairs and Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Senator Rana Sanaullah Khan, interacting with globally designated terrorist Hafiz Talha Saeed.
Talha Saeed is the son of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed.
In the same interview where he admitted supporting terrorists, Khwaja Asif had claimed that "Lashkar is a name from the past. It does not exist", in response to the LeT offshoot, Resistance Front, claiming responsibility for the Pahalgam attack.
Also, it is a well-chronicled fact that the garrison town of Rawalpindi holds sway over the civilian government ruling from Islamabad. And that power has been illustrated in recent times by its army chief Syed Asim Munir, who leads from the front in international affairs and various national matters, which otherwise come under the ambit of the government.
It may not be possible for Prime Minister Sharif to speak for the powerful general, whom he has further empowered by tweaking the country’s laws in recent times.
That terror modules exist is beyond denial.
The most glaring example is the LeT, which masterminded the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including foreign nationals. Its founder, Hafiz Saeed, is a UN-designated terrorist, but enjoys freedom within Pakistan, appearing at public rallies and continuing to influence extremist networks.
Recent reports indicate that Pakistan’s spy agency ISI has placed him under enhanced security due to multiple assassination attempts and is reportedly kept in a fortified safe house in Lahore.
ISI is a military agency, as asserted by Owen L. Sirrs, author of "Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate: Covert Action and Internal Operations", saying it does what military leadership tells it to do. He wrote that the ISI is “owned by the Army Chief (and) not the Prime Minister".
Similarly, Masood Azhar, the Jaish-e-Mohammed – which was behind the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing – remains sheltered in Pakistan, despite international pressure. The London bombings of 2005 were linked to extremists who had trained in Pakistan, while the attempted Times Square bombing in 2010 traced back to networks operating from its soil.
The 2003 capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Rawalpindi tied the country indelibly to Al Qaeda’s network in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attack that destroyed New York City’s iconic twin towers of the World Trade Center complex, killings almost 3,000 people. Perhaps the most damning evidence of Pakistan’s complicity was the discovery of mastermind Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in 2011, living close to Pakistan’s premier military academy.
Even a “lone wolf” like Mir Aimal Kansi, who made a daring attack on operatives at the CIA headquarters, was apprehended by US agents from Pakistan. Meanwhile, the brutal killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002 while investigating links between Pakistani extremists and international terror networks remains one of the most chilling examples of terrorists operating with impunity on its soil. Pearl’s captors were members of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and militants tied to Al Qaeda, groups that have long enjoyed safe havens in Pakistan.
The legacy continues, and it is impossible to dismiss the role of Pakistan’s state apparatus, particularly the army and intelligence services, in nurturing these groups as strategic assets.
In June this year, leaders associated with terror outfits were spotted at a funeral of the brother of Pakistan’s former strike bowler Shoaib Akhtar. Photographs that went viral showed Saifullah Kasuri, the LeT deputy chief and the mastermind of the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, Inam-ur-Rehman Kamboh, president of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), known as the political front of LeT, among others, present at the funeral.
Against these backdrops, the political leadership’s assurances of eliminating terrorism ring hollow. While Hafiz Sayeed and Masood Azhar remain at large, LeT’s operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Hizbul Mujahideen commander Syed Salahuddin all operate freely, addressing rallies and mobilising support. Terrorism cannot be eliminated through rhetoric. Pakistan’s leaders may continue to admit past mistakes, but their credibility will remain in question as long as the terror heads roam free on its land.
Source: IANS
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