Tarar objects to use of ‘militants’ for Karachi attackers

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday said attackers involved in the recent assault on a Rangers facility in Karachi should be described as terrorists, not militants, while criticising what he called a growing tendency to use softer terminology for such incidents.

Referring to a report by Turkish public broadcaster TRT World on the Karachi attack, Tarar said the wording used for the assailants was unacceptable. He said the incident in Karachi was a terrorist attack in which three security personnel were martyred and innocent people were killed.

“The Karachi attack was a terrorist attack in which innocent people were killed,” the minister said.

“Terrorists must not be called by any other name. Terrorists are terrorists, they have no caste, colour, creed or religion,” he aded,

His comments came days after the Inter-Services Public Relations announced the arrest of one of the men involved in the Rangers facility attack. According to the military’s media wing, the suspect was an Afghan national linked to Indian proxy Jaamatul Ahrar. ISPR said he and others had received training in Afghanistan before crossing into Pakistan to carry out the attack.

Separately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday summoned the Afghan charge d’affaires and issued what it described as a strong demarche over the Karachi attack. Islamabad has repeatedly asked the Taliban administration in Kabul to act against militant sanctuaries on Afghan territory that Pakistan says are used to launch attacks inside the country. Officials say those requests have not been acted upon.