The Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed reports that the terrorists involved in the hijacking of the Jaffar Express were in direct contact with planners in Afghanistan.
“The latest terrorist attack against Jaffar Express near Sibi, Balochistan was also orchestrated and directed by terrorist ringleaders operating from abroad,” spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said during a weekly press briefing. “Pakistan has repeatedly asked the interim Afghan government to deny the use of its soil for terrorist groups like BLA [Baloch Liberation Army] for their attacks against Pakistan,” he said, adding Islamabad continued to urge Afghanistan to hold perpetrators, organizers and financiers of terrorism accountable. Kabul should also cooperate with the Government of Pakistan to bring anyone involved in the attack to justice, he added.
Clarifying that India has been involved in terrorism in Pakistan in the past, the spokesperson emphasized that in the specific instance of Jaffar Express, the handlers and ringleaders were in Afghanistan.
A day earlier, after a daylong clash, security forces killed all 33 BLA terrorists who had hijacked the Jaffar Express. Military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudry has confirmed the militants martyred 21 passengers prior to the launch of the clearance operation. He said four FC personnel were also martyred.
To a question, Khan also said that Pakistan has consistently shared detailed evidence of terrorism incidents that originate from Afghanistan with the neighboring country. He stressed that Pakistan’s primary aim is strengthening friendly ties with Afghanistan, but terrorism remains a core obstacle. He also said counterterrorism remains a key area of cooperation with international partners.
To a question on Indian media projecting the BLA despite it being an internationally designated terrorist organization, the spokesperson said the Indian media’s “kind of glorifying” of the BLA was a reflection of Indian policy. “That is the real thinking in terms of their sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan, that’s what I can say on this,” he said.
On the BLA seeming to threaten Chinese investment in Pakistan, Khan said forces involved in terrorism in the country were primarily anti-Pakistan. “They don’t want to see Pakistan stable and prosperous and are against anything which helps Pakistan achieve stability and progress,” he said, adding this was why projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor were a target.