Pakistani PM Imran Khan vows to crack down on terrorists

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed to crack down on Pakistan-based terrorist groups carrying out attacks abroad, following deadly attacks by such outfits in India and Iran.

“This government will not allow Pakistan’s land to be used for any kind of outside terrorism,” said Khan while addressing a public rally in southern Pakistan on Friday. “We will not allow any terror group to function in our country now.”

Pakistan’s relations with its neighboring countries have been strained as a result of terrorist attacks by groups based in Pakistan.

On February 13, a bomber identified by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as Pakistani national Hafiz Mohammad Ali slammed his explosives-laden car into a bus carrying members of Iran’s IRGC on a road in Iran’s Sistan-and-Baluchestan Province — which borders Pakistan — killing 27 people and injuring 13 others.

A day after the attack in Iran, a car bomb killed 40 Indian paramilitary troops in the Indian-administered Kashmir.

The attacks in Iran and India were not the first of their kinds.

The assault in India prompted New Delhi to launch airstrikes on what it said were militant positions inside Pakistan. Pakistan responded by launching its own cross-border attacks, and the tensions started mounting significantly.

Pakistan also shot down an Indian fighter jet and captured its pilot but released him shortly afterwards as a “peace gesture.”

The tensions continued despite the peace gesture.

SS