Huge confession: Pak Army accepts presence of terror forces on native land

Pak warns India to not test its 'resolve'

For the first time after Balakot Airstrikes Pakistan Army's top official has accepted that the country needs to do a lot more to curb terrorism. Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor giving an update about the actions being carried out under Operation Raddul Fasaad, said eighty-seven major operations and about one thousand Intelligence Based Operations have been carried out.

He said 64235 weapons were also recovered from terrorists. The Pakistan Army on Monday said that there is no 'organized terrorist infrastructure' in the country, reported the Geo News. Spokesperson of the Pakistan Army Ghafoor said, "We can say with evidence that now there is no organized terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan."

"We share intelligence with 70 countries," he informed, as he lamented that over 81,000 Pakistanis were martyred or injured in the war against terrorism. "This is the cost we paid for this cooperation," he said. The spokesman noted that radicalisation took root in Pakistan due to the impact of the 'Afghan jihad and the Iranian revolution.'

Amidst mounting outrage, after the Pulwana attacks, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was a JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in aerial combat and captured an Indian pilot, who was handed over to India later.

The DG ISPR said instead of reacting to Indian lies after Pulwama incident, Pakistan behaved responsibly and presented facts, proving false Indian claims about the Indian airstrike in Balakot on February 26 and the subsequent developments.

Talking about the Pushtoon Tahafuz Movement (PTM), Ghafoor said that when this movement started, he was the first one to meet Mohsin Dawar and other PTM leaders.

"The state was busy conducting kinetic operations and every law enforcement agency was busy in that. Which is why we were not able to strategise against these (banned) organisations the way we are doing today," Ghafoor said. Major General Ghafoor also blamed India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for allegedly funding Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a human rights movement of the Pashtun community against Pakistani security establishments for violating their human rights.

"On the PTM website, they have got a number that states the amount of funds they have collected from Pashtuns around the world. But tell us how much money you got from the NDS (Afghan National Directorate of Security) to run your campaign. How much money did RAW give you for the first dharna in Islamabad," he asked. Major General Ghafoor's remark assumes significance as India has clarified that any talks with Islamabad will be possible only when Pakistan takes concrete actions against terrorists operating from its land.

India has toughened its stand following February 14 Pulwama terrorist attack by Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) on the convoy of CRPF in which 44 jawans were killed. The two countries were close to having a dangerous confrontation following Balakot airstrikes of February 26, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft crossed the Line of Control to attack JeM's training camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Talking about the confusion over the number of IAF pilots captured after India conducted pre-emptive airstrikes deep in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, he said: "Initially, we got information through the proper channel. Then on the ground, I personally found that only one person had been captured and I sent out the correction myself. How is it that you are ready to accept one of our statements, and not the other one?" In a veiled threat to India, Major General Ghafoor asked New Delhi not test Pakistan's 'resolve.'

"We have not retaliated in the past because we want peace," he said.