Pakistan snubs Pentagon charge it’s soft on terrorism

• ISPR DG tells American defence reporters no signs of IS fighters infiltrating country
• Says Pak Army’s offensive against NWA militants shows govt’s determination to combat terrorism

Pakistan military’s chief spokesman on Friday rejected recent claims by the Pentagon and civilian or defence leaders of other nations that it coddles militants who’ve launched numerous attacks on neighbouring India and Afghanistan from Pakistani territory.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Asim Saleem Bajwa also said Islamabad sees no signs of Islamic State (IS) fighters having infiltrated the country despite recent reports that the radical group is recruiting hundreds of people in Balochistan province.

Bajwa said an ongoing Pakistan Army offensive against extremists in Waziristan, a mountainous province on the Afghan border, shows the Pakistani government’s determination to combat terrorism.

“We will eliminate all terrorists without discrimination – all terrorists of any hue or color,” Bajwa told defence reporters at a lunch in Washington. “We will not allow our soil to be used for terrorism.”

Bajwa met with journalists before the arrival in Washington of Gen. Raheel Sharif, the Pakistan Army’s chief of staff, for meetings next week with Pentagon and congressional leaders.

Bajwa said 500 Pakistani soldiers have died in the current offensive, which Islamabad launched in June after a terrorist attack on the Karachi airport. He said extremists have killed 5,000 troops and 45,000 civilians since Pakistan joined the United States in fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York and Washington.

“We probably have suffered the most in our continued terrorism fight,” Bajwa said.

In a report to Congress last month on the security situation in Afghanistan, the Pentagon accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to Islamic extremists who are attacking India across its eastern border and Afghanistan over its western frontier.

“Afghan and Indian-focused militants continue to operate from Pakistan territory to the detriment of Afghan and regional stability,” the Pentagon said. “Pakistan uses these proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter India’s superior military.”

The extremists in the largely lawless tribal areas of western Pakistan along the Afghan border “continue to act as the primary irritant in Afghan-Pakistan bilateral relations,” the Pentagon said.

A State Department described parts of Pakistan as “a safe haven for terrorist groups.”

Asked about the Pentagon’s recent claims, Bajwa responded: “So much has been done (against terrorists), it needs to be appreciated.”

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry last week formally protested the Pentagon’s assertions, dismissing them as “unsubstantiated allegations of the existence of terrorist ‘sanctuaries’ or that proxy forces are operating from here against Afghanistan and India.”

Bajwa criticised an amendment to the pending 2015 defence appropriations bill, by Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, to withhold some of the $960 million in US military aid to Pakistan until it takes stronger action against home-grown terrorists.

Specifically, the Michigan Democrat’s amendment would release the aid only if the US defence secretary certifies that Pakistan has “undertaken military operations in North Waziristan that have significantly disrupted the safe haven and freedom of movement of the Haqqani network in Pakistan.”

Asked about Levin’s amendment, Bajwa said: “I think that’s not a fair assessment at all.”

Yet, Bajwa several times declined to say whether the Pakistani offensive has led to the capture or killing of Haqqani militants, who’ve waged attacks on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan for years while moving freely across the two countries’ border.