Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday claimed the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) was a terror outfit but indicated that his country’s intelligence had used it to carry out attacks in India during his tenure.
Making the disclosure in a telephonic interview to Pakistani journalist Nadeem Malik of Hum News in his talk show, Pervez Musharraf also welcomed the action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed, saying it had tried to assassinate him twice in December 2003, as per a video clip shared on the journalist’s Facebook and Twitter page.
Asked why he had not taken action against the organisation during his stint in power (1999-2008), he claimed those times were “different”.
Amid all this, not much action was taken against the JeM, he said, adding that he had also not insisted.
The JeM, led by Masood Azhar, is accused of various attacks in India.
India has time and again claimed that the Pakistan intelligence agency ISI was supporting the terror group and that the “JeM was a child of the Pakistan Army”.
Over 44 CRPF personnel were killed and many injured on February 14 in one of the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu-Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near their bus in Pulwama district.
The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying around 2500 CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.
Bowing to intense global pressure to rein in terror groups, the Pakistan government earlier in the week issued an order to streamline a process for the implementation of sanctions against individuals and entities of all banned outfits as designated by the UN Security Council, the Foreign Office announced.
Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the government had taken a firm decision that there would be stern action against all militant groups.
UN Security Council comprising 15 nations, including Pakistan’s key ally China, had earlier named JeM in a statement condemning in the “strongest terms” the “heinous and cowardly” terror attack executed by Pakistan-based JeM in Pulwama and stressed on the need to hold organisers and financiers of such “reprehensible acts” accountable and bring them to justice.
Masood Azhar formed Jaish-e-Mohammed after his release in 1999 when Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked and taken to Kandahar. Since then, the Jaish has been involved in terror attacks in the country.
The terror group was responsible for the attack on parliament on December 13, 2001, in which nine security personnel and officials were killed.
On January 2, 2016, a heavily armed group of Jaish-e-Mohammed attacked the Pathankot airbase in which seven security personnel were killed.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed also carried out the attack on Uri brigade headquarters on September 18, 2016, killing 17 soldiers and injuring 30 others.
(With agency inputs)