Doing this dirty work for US: Pak minister admits to backing, training terrorists

Pakistan’s defence minister, in a brazen claim, appeared to admit that the country had been supporting and training terrorists for the “last three decades” but pinned the blame on the United States and the West. The remark, a vindication of India’s long-held stand, comes at a time when New Delhi has held Islamabad indirectly responsible for the terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 tourists dead.

When asked by journalist Yalda Hakim about Pakistan’s long history of “supporting” terror outfits, Khawaja Asif said, “We have been doing this dirty work for the US and the West, including Britain, for three decades.”

However, he was quick to point out that it was a “mistake” and Pakistan suffered for that. “If we had not joined the war against the Soviet Union and later on, following the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan would have an unimpeachable track record,” the minister said.

Pakistan backed the US during the Cold War against the Soviet Union and also supported its invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, terror attack by Al-Qaeda in New York.

The Pakistani minister also accused India of “staging” the Pahalgam terror attack in an attempt to create a “crisis in the region, particularly for Pakistan”.

In the interview, Asif brazenly asserted that Lashkar-e-Taiba doesn’t exist any more, and he had never heard of The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the terror outfit that claimed responsibility for the attack.

“Lashkar is an old name. It does not exist… Our government has condemned it (Pahalgam attack) categorically. Pakistan has been the victim of terrorism for decades,” he further said.

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