Pakistani army admits ISIL terrorists' presence in country

A senior Pakistani military official has made a rare acknowledgement of the presence of the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group in the militancy-riddled country.

Army spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa told a press conference in the city of Rawalpindi on Thursday that ISIL (Daesh) terrorists had managed to make inroads into Pakistan.

Bajwa, however, stressed that Pakistani law enforcement agencies had contained the terrorist group's activities by arresting hundreds of its members and preventing them from carrying out major attacks.

"Daesh tried to make … ingress into Pakistan, but the core of … group have now been apprehended," the military official said.

The military spokesman noted that a total of 309 militants had been held by Pakistani security forces.

Bajwa revealed that Pakistani forces had recently foiled planned attacks by Daesh terrorists on foreign embassies and an airport in the capital, Islamabad

The spokesman acknowledged that Daesh terrorists had carried out several small-scale attacks, including the killing of human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud, in Karachi in 2015.

Daesh terrorists were involved in attacks on media and security personnel, and were planning attacks on government, diplomatic and civilian targets, he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Pakistani military official said Daesh terrorists were still present in the Afghan provinces of Nangarhar, Khost and Kunar, which lie along the border with Pakistan.

SS