Page 10 - The Indian EYE 051625

COVER STORY MAY 16, 2025 | The Indian Eye 10

TERROR TRAIL

From Kashmir to Kabul and beyond, Pakistan has

a dubious track record of sponsoring terrorism

The 2011 US raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, exposed

systemic failures in Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts. Bin Laden had lived undetected for years in a
compound near Pakistan’s Military Academy, raising suspicions of ISI collusion

OUR BUREAU
New Delhi
akistan’s track record in spon-
soring, sheltering, and export-
Ping terrorism has once again
come under global scrutiny in the
wake of the recent Pahalgam terror
attack in Jammu and Kashmir. For
decades, its soil has been used as a
launchpad for cross-border terrorism,
insurgency, and extremist ideology.
In 2018, the former Prime Min-
ister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, had
suggested that the Pakistani govern-
ment played a role in the 2008 Mum-
bai attacks that Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pa-
kistan-based Islamist terrorist group,
carried out.
General Pervez Musharraf, who
took power in a coup in 1999, acknowl- Pakistan’s ISI has been accused of funding and training Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a banned Islamist group
edged that his forces trained militant
groups to fight India in Kashmir. He responsible for the 2016 Gulshan Cafe attack in Dhaka
confessed that the government turned
a blind eye because it wanted to force in the investigation of the Moscow of the bombers - Mohammad Sidique Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok).
India to enter into negotiations, as terror attack. Russian authorities Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, and Ger- These camps, operated by groups
well as raise the issue internationally. identified the mastermind as a Tajik maine Lindsay - spent time in Paki- such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),
Just a few days back, Khawaja national and are probing connections stan between 2003 and 2005. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizbul
Muhammad Asif, Pakistan’s Defence to Pakistan, with reports suggesting The 2011 US raid that killed Mujahideen (HM), and transnation-
Minister admitted in a recent viral vid- that the attackers may have had lo- Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden al outfits like ISIS-Khorasan, serve
eo conversation with Sky News’ Yalda gistical or ideological support tracing in Abbottabad, Pakistan, exposed sys- as hubs for radicalization, weapons
Hakim that Pakistan has been fund- back to Pakistani networks. temic failures in Pakistan’s counter- training, and suicide mission prepa-
ing and supporting terrorist groups, The country has also been in- terrorism efforts. Bin Laden had lived ration. Ex-Pakistani Army personnel
claiming, “We have been doing this volved in attacks in Iran, as well as the undetected for years in a compound often assist in training, lending mili-
dirty work for the United States for UK. Pakistan-based Sunni extrem- near Pakistan’s Military Academy, tary expertise to enhance operational
about three decades... and the West, ist group Jaish ul-Adl has repeatedly raising suspicions of ISI collusion. lethality.
including Britain...” attacked Iranian security forces in Pakistan’s ISI has been accused of The US State Department’s
Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-Services Sistan and Baluchestan province. In funding and training Jamaat-ul-Muja- Country Reports on Terrorism 2019
Intelligence) has been widely doc- response, Iran carried out missile and hideen Bangladesh (JMB), a banned identified Pakistan as a country that
umented as supporting the Afghan drone strikes on January 16, 2024, in- Islamist group responsible for the “continued to serve as a safe haven
Taliban and the Haqqani Network, side Pakistan’s Balochistan province, 2016 Gulshan Cafe attack in Dhaka for certain regionally focused terror-
providing them with funding, training, targeting what it described as Jaish (20 hostages killed). In 2015, Ban- ist groups.”
and safe havens. These groups have ul-Adl hideouts. Iran has also regular- gladeshi authorities expelled Paki- In a report titled Pakistan Army
been responsible for numerous dead- ly accused Pakistan of harboring and stani diplomats after catching them and Terrorism: An Unholy Alliance,
ly attacks on Afghan civilians, govern- failing to act against Sunni militants red-handed transferring funds to the European Foundation for South
ment targets, and international forces, who stage attacks across the border. JMB operatives. Asian Studies highlights a deeply en-
including the 2008 Indian Embassy The July 7, 2005, London bomb- Pakistan also hosts a network of trenched relationship among Paki-
bombing in Kabul and the 2011 attack ings, carried out by four British Isla- terror training camps across provinc- stan’s military establishment, its intel-
on the US Embassy in Kabul. mist terrorists, were linked to training es like Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ligence agency--the ISI--and radical
In April, a Pakistan link emerged and indoctrination in Pakistan. Three (formerly NWFP), Waziristan, and religious leaders.

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