Pakistan Interior Minister Admits Existence Of Terror Groups; Says ‘Govt Has Spent Billions On JuD’

A month ago, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had also said that about "30,000 to 40,000" terrorists who had trained and fought in "some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir" were present in Pakistan.

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New Delhi: Pakistan on Wednesday admitted to presence of terror outfits in the country. Interior minister Ijaz Ahmed Shah, in a television talk show, said that Pakistan has spent billions of rupees on proscribed terror outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) He admitted that the Imran Khan government has spent billions of Rupees on the terror outfit to attach them to the mainstream. Speaking to journalist Nadeem Malik, during a talk show aired on a Pakistani news channel Hum TV, he said, "We have spent millions of rupees on JuD. We need to demotivate the members of the proscribed organisation and bring them down to the mainstream." He admitted that these terrorists are the same people who had earlier fought in Afghanistan. A month ago, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had also said that about "30,000 to 40,000" terrorists who had trained and fought in "some part of Afghanistan or Kashmir" were present in Pakistan. In the interview, Shah was emphasizing that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is taking steps to get rid of the terrorists, but when asked about action taken against Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Mohammed, Shah failed to enumerate any. He said that the PTI government would be bringing all banned outfits into the mainstream by providing them with employment opportunities. In the talk show, Shah also that admitted that Islamabad has failed to get support from the international community over its stand on Kashmir issue. Shah blamed Pakistan "ruling elite" including Khan for "destroying" the image of the country. "People do not believe us... in the international community. We say they (India) impose curfew and are not giving medicines to people of Jammu and Kashmir. People do not believe us but they believe them. The ruling elite has destroyed the country. The ruling elite of this country destroyed the name. People thought we are not a serious nation," he said, during a talk show on Pakistani news channel Hum News on Wednesday. When asked whether Khan, Benazir Bhutto, Pervez Musharraf and others were a part of the ruling elite, the former spy chief said: "Everyone is responsible. Pakistan should now do a soul searching." This comes a day after India lambasted Pakistan at the UNHRC session in Geneva when it tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue over the abrogation of Article 370 which granted special status to erstwhile state of India. India said that a "fabricated narrative" on Jammu and Kashmir has come from "the epicentre of global terrorism" and from a nation, which conducts cross-border terrorism as a form of 'alternate diplomacy.