Defense Minister Khawaja Asif attacked the PTI on Thursday for “politicizing” the recent kidnapping of the Jaffar Express train in Baluchistan and misunderstanding the situation on social networks.
The incident occurred on Tuesday morning when the train, which travels from Quetta to Peshawar and transported 440 passengers, was ambushed by the terrorists of the Baluchistan Liberation Army (Bla). They opened fire on the train and kept passengers as hostages, which led the security forces to start an operation that lasted two days.
On Wednesday night, the general director of Public Relations between Services (ISPR), Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, confirmed that the operation had been completed, with 33 terrorists present at the site of the neutralized attack. The ISPR chief also confirmed that 21 passengers and four members of the border body staff lost their lives in kidnapping, but the hostages were not damaged during the final rescue phase.
Asif, while talking about the operation today, directed his attention to the opposition, PTI, and attacked the social media statements of the party related to the incident.
“What is more disturbing is the way in which PTI’s social networks interpreted the situation,” he said.
A day ago, when the rescue operation was still underway, the coalition government, including Asif, maintained a strange silence in the NA on kidnapping, despite the scathing criticisms of the opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan, who criticized the handling of the attack that shook the nation.
Taking a mockery in Omar Ayub, who is the grandson of former Dictator Gen Ayub Khan, Asif said: “Those people made fun of the 47 who have had three martial laws, whose elderly annulled the Constitution of Pakistan for the first time.”
He criticized the ancient dictators for “stealing the right to vote” of the people and deliver it to a few selected.
“When they (PTI leaders) talk to me, I am worried because they seem to eliminate the past of their memories,” he added.
Asif then criticized the decision of the former government led by PTI to relocate thousands of fighters of the illegal of Tehreek-I-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to the country.
“During the four years of their mandate, PTI leaders, as well as General Bajwa and General Faiz, received information on what to bring these terrorists and rehabilitate them would be a positive movement for Pakistan,” he said.
“Until we, as politicians, do not recognize the mistakes of the last 76-77 years as a nation and community, we could not advance.”
Remembering the successful completion of the authorization operation, the minister said: “God prohibits, there could be many casualties, but the security forces eliminated the terrorists.
“Our war against terrorism is a great milestone that the whole country can be proud. If the whole nation is proud in this way with our armed forces, then there is no doubt that we will succeed in our war. [against terrorism]”Said the minister.
Detailing the attack, Asif said that “the passengers separated according to the provinces to which they belonged,” referring to multiple incidents in Baluchistan in recent years in which people who come from Punjab were attacked.
More to follow
