In a startling new development, the Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has stated that the banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed had not claimed responsibility of the terror strike in Pulwama in which over 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel had been killed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway on February 14. The terror outfit however, had issued a press release claiming responsibility for the attack immediately after it took place.
Speaking to the BBC, Qureshi stated that “The people here, who are known to them, have contacted the Jaish leadership”. But he refused to give details of who has been in touch with the group. He said that they had denied their involvement in the Pulwama attack.
Refusing to share any more details on the identity of the individuals who had contacted the JeM leadership, Shah Mehmood Qureshi stated that the Pakistani establishment was ‘not sure’ if JeM was involved in the Pulwama attacks as they had denied it. “…The leadership when contacted said ‘no’ [they had not claimed the attack]. They denied that.”
Adding that the outfit ‘have not’ claimed responsibility for the terror strike, the Pakistani foreign minister added that there was ‘confusion on that’.
On Thursday last in an interview with the CNN, Qureshi had confirmed the presence of JeM chief Masood Azhar in Pakistan adding that he was very ‘unwell’ – so much so that he could not ‘leave his house’.
Acknowledging the ‘very serious situation’ India and Pakistan are currently faced with, the minister added that a war between the two countries would be ‘suicidal’.
