A Pakistani politician reportedly hinted at Islamabad’s involvement in the November 10 Red Fort blast. In a video now viral on social media, Anwarul Haq, the former “prime minister” of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, is heard saying that Pakistan-linked terror groups have carried out attacks “from the Red Fort to the forests of Kashmir”.
However, Haq, who lost the no-confidence motion in the regional assembly, did not clearly mention whether he was referring to the November 10 car bombing in Delhi near Lal Quila that left around 10 dead, including Dr Umar Nabi, a Kashmiri who was driving the car.
“Earlier I said that if you continue to bleed Balochistan, we will hit India from the Red Fort to the forests of Kashmir. By the grace of Allah we have done it and still they are not able to count the bodies,” Anwarul Haq is heard speaking in the PoK Assembly.
Haq was apparently referring to the Pahalgam attack in south Kashmir’s Baisaran meadows, where the attackers came from Pakistan. The attacker in Delhi’s Red Fort was not from Pakistan, and the government has not officially confirmed or suspected Pakistani involvement in the attack. However, investigators said the Red Fort attack was part of a larger “white-collar terrorist cell” linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terrorist group founded by UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar.
Khawaja Asif’s rant
Haq’s statement comes as Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned that Islamabad cannot ignore the possibility of “all-out war” with India and that the country must be on “full alert”. He said India could not be trusted, adding that the country had been put on high alert for “any border intrusion”.
“We cannot ignore (India) in any way… We are not ignoring India and our preparation and readiness is maximum. We cannot trust India in any way. We cannot rule out (an attack) because India can directly intervene. From there it can continue to attack (probably Afghanistan) and according to its strategy, it can go to an all-out war,” Khawaja Asif told Samaa TV.
