Pakistan had “Direct Role” in Delhi Car Blast,” Claims Pakistani Leader
NEW DELHI, Nov 19: A Pakistani politician has claimed that his country had a direct role in the car bomb that exploded outside Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10, killing 13 people and injuring over a dozen.
Chaudhary Anwarul Haq, Prime Minister’ of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir till two days ago, told the PoK Assembly, “I said earlier, if you (India) keep bleeding Balochistan, we will hit you from the Red Fort to the forests of Kashmir. By the grace of Allah, we have done it… our brave men have done it.”
Pakistan has not formally commented on this statement, though Defence Minister Khawaja Asif declared Pakistan “cannot discount the possibility of an all-out war with India” and that his country remained on ‘full alert’ amid escalating regional tensions.
In an interview, Asif said, “We are neither ignoring India nor trusting it under any circumstances. Based on my analysis, I cannot rule out an all-out war or any hostile strategy from India, including border incursions or attacks (presumably Afghan). We must stay fully alert.”
His remarks came days after Chief of Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, called Operation Sindoor as an “88-hour trailer”, asserting that the armed forces were prepared to “teach them (Pakistan) how to behave responsibly with a neighbouring nation” if the situation demanded it.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of fomenting unrest in its Balochistan province, a tactic New Delhi says was used to divert attention from Islamabad-supported cross-border terrorist activity. India has always denied any role in violence in Balochistan.
The intelligence agencies have always linked the Delhi blast and the terror cell behind the plot with the Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Officials investigating the blast have said the 10-member ‘terror doctor’ cell was set up by an Islamic cleric from Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian – Maulvi Irfan Ahmed – with direct links to the Jaish, he reportedly arranged meetings with JeM terrorists.
Ahmed and a Pak-based terror operative, Umar-bin-Khattab, alias Hanjullah, were the cell’s handlers. Ahmed identified and indoctrinated doctors from the Al-Falah Medical College in Haryana’s Faridabad, including Dr Umar Mohammad, the suicide bomber. The remaining members of the cell, including Ahmed, have been arrested.
Earlier this month fresh intelligence reports had suggested an alarming escalation in Pak-backed terrorism in J&K. The inputs indicated major groups, like the Jaish and Lashkar-e-Taiba were mobilising for a new wave of coordinated strikes. Both are prominent terrorist groups that are financed and supported by the Pak Army and that country’s deep state, and have made headlines in India over the past six months, each for an attack that claimed the lives of civilians.
(Manas Dasgupta)
