Pahalgam Terror Attack: Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Pahalgam terror attack that killed at least 26 people, mostly tourists, in Baisaran meadow on April 22.
Tuesday’s attack was carried out in the fabled Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam on a day when United States Vice President JD Vance was in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a state visit to Saudi Arabia.
The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, is believed to be behind Tuesday’s attack, a claim that Mint has not been able to verify so far. Some reports even suggested that a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, Saifullah Kasuri, alias Khalid, is believed to be the ‘mastermind’ of the attack. There has not been any official word on these claims yet.
“Pakistan has nothing to do with it (Pagalgam terror attack),” Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif is heard saying to a Pakistan TV channel.
Asif asserted the attack was, instead, a reaction of those against the Union government in India, from Nagaland to Kashmir, including the unrest in Manipur, and the attack was ‘home-grown’.
The Union government of India in Delhi is facing protests in many states, including Nagaland, Manipur, Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh. This is home-grown as the government is exploiting many,” Asif said.
Pak Army Chief’s Kashmir Remark
The Pahalgam attack comes a week after Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir sparked a row when he said Kashmir is Islamabad’s ‘jugular vein.’ The remark evoked a strong objection from New Delhi.
“Our stance is absolutely clear, it was our jugular vein, it will be our jugular vein, we will not forget it. We will not leave our Kashmiri brothers in their heroic struggle,” General Munir said in Islamabad while addressing the Overseas Pakistani Convention on April 16.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reacted to General Munir’s statement last week saying, “how can anything foreign be in a jugular vein? This is a Union Territory of India. Its only relationship with Pakistan is the vacation of illegally occupied territories by that country.”
“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 said.
“However, if local forces are targeting the Indian government, it becomes easy to target Pakistan,” Asif said.
Pakistan has nothing to do with it (Pahalgam terror attack).
A spokesperson with Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs extended condolences to the families of those killed.
“We are concerned at the loss of tourists’ lives in an attack in Anantnag district of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. We extend our condolences to the near ones of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” the spokesperon said.
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