Pakistan Army finally admits presence of terrorists in its territory

After denying for years, the Pakistan Army on Monday admitted the presence of terrorists and Jihadi elements in its country, saying that there is a need to "do a lot" to curb terrorism, reported news agency ANI. "We have proscribed violent extremist organisations and Jihadist groups and we have been taking action against them," said Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor at a press conference in Islamabad on Monday.

Major General Ghafoor said that there is a need to "do a lot" to curb terrorism as Islamabad so far has "suffered losses. We have lost millions of dollar due to terrorism." "There is still a lot to do against terrorism," he added.

He also admitted that previous governments failed to curb terrorism and due to which Pakistan lost its "millions of dollars."

"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 statement came amid global pressure on Prime Minister Imran Khan to take action against terror organisation reportedly present in Pakistan.  

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 40 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.