KARACHI, Nov 7: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has warned that if a foreign power under any pretext attacked or tried to “liquidate Pakistan’s nuclear facilities, it would have to face a joint resistance of the armed forces as well as people of Pakistan, and a threat of war would spread to all of South Asia.

“The command and control of our nuclear facilities was in the safe hands, which are protected by a specially constituted strategic force. The government is not in a danger of being overthrown as none of the opposition parties were demanding or working for that purpose. Such a scenario was being built up in the media which is orchestrated by the US and Zionists”, said PTI secretary general Mairaj Muhammad Khan.

Talking to newsmen in Karachi on Wednesday, he maintained that the US-Zionist intelligence agencies were behind the propaganda being unleased by the western media that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons were not in safe hands.

“These forces are opposed to Pakistan’s nuclear programme and are trying to give an impression that the government is threatened with civil strife and is likely to be replaced by extremist religious elements”.

According to Mairaj Muhammad Khan, the US would like to use such a “smokescreen” to attack and liquidate Pakistan’s nuclear facilities or at least put pressure to ensure joint US-Pakistan control of “our strategic assets”.

He contended that the US had proved to be what he called “a very unreliable friend”.

He demanded that first, the government should closely monitor the activities of US forces based in Pakistan; secondly the US should not be allowed to use any airbase near our nuclear installations and thirdly, the US forces be asked to leave Pakistani soil at the earliest.—PPI