ISLAMABAD: The government is deeply sceptical about Middle Eastern terrorist outfit Islamic State’s (also known as Daesh) claims about having carried out Wednesday’s bus shooting in Karachi and is instead focused on the likelihood of Indian intelligence agency RAW’s involvement.

Talking to newsmen after inaugurating a seminar on Pakistan’s collaboration with leading particle physics laboratory CERN, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the Daesh claim and instead advised them to look for the hidden hand and the beneficiary of instability in Pakistan – an allusion to the Indian role.

“We are not ready to immediately accept the Daesh claim,” he said and was quick to add that Daesh, nevertheless, posed a serious threat to Pakistan and was being dealt with accordingly.

Sceptical about Daesh’s claim of carrying out the attack

A Taliban splinter group Jundullah, which has sworn allegiance to the self-styled Islamic State, was the first to claim responsibility for the attack in which 45 people belonging to the Shia Ismaili sect were killed. Later, a twitter account linked to Daesh’s ‘Khorasan province’ also claimed the attack.

Daesh describes Pakistan and Afghanistan as ‘Khorasan province’ of its ‘caliphate’. The terror group had announced its organisational hierarchy for Khorasan province in January in a major hint towards its interest in expanding its footprint in this region by exploiting deep sectarian schism in the country.

Pakistani authorities have, however, remained dismissive about the looming Daesh threat.

The government had also stayed away from the US anti-Daesh military coalition that has been carrying out air strikes against the group’s targets in Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile, Foreign Office spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said at the weekly media briefing: “About IS, we have repeatedly said that IS has no footprint in Pakistan. However, our law-enforcement and security agencies are vigilant and will take appropriate action, if need be”.

He said the Karachi attack was being investigated.

The government has since last month become more vocal about RAW’s alleged hand in subversive activities in the country. The corps commanders in their meeting this month had in an unprecedented move directly pointed fingers at RAW.

Although Mr Khalilullah did not give a fresh statement on RAW’s involvement, he did say that the Afghan government had been asked during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Kabul to stop the Indian intelligence agency from destabilising Pakistan from its territory.

Responding to a question, he welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to restart cricket matches between the two countries.

HERSH STORY: The spokesman rejected investigative journalist Seymour Hersh’s claims about the US SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden compound in May 2011.

“The allegation that the Pakistan government had prior knowledge of the US operation of 2nd May 2011 against Osama bin Laden is baseless,” he said.

Mr Hersh in an article claimed that Bin Laden lived in ISI custody in Abbottabad and one of the agency’s officers leaked the information to the Americans for reward money and that the then Pakistani army and intelligence chiefs covertly backed the raid.

ISRAEL: Mr Khalilullah said the UN had been approached to ascertain the reports of 16 Pakistanis said to be in Israel’s custody after the ship carrying them sank in the Mediterranean Sea in 2009.

NALTAR: Injured ambassadors of Indonesia and Netherlands, who were being treated at Kharian Burn Centre, have returned to their home countries, the spokesman said.

Moreover, the mortal remains of all four foreign victims of the helicopter crash have been taken back to their countries.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2015

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