Pakistan now regrets creating terrorist groups, say analysts

KABUL (Pajhwok): Referring to recent statements by Pakistani officials, analysts say Pakistan now regrets creating the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh group and seems to be hired again by the United States for its interests in the new cold war.

Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, speaking in context of the Peshawar suicide blast at a mosque, said Pakistan had sowed seeds of terrorism. “Worshippers weren't martyred during prayers in India or Israel, but it happened in Pakistan,” he said.

The massive explosion that targeted the police headquarters in Peshawar left 100 people dead, including the prayer leader, and 220 others injured. The TTP first claimed responsibility for the attack, but later distanced itself from it.

Days after the attack, the country's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah admitted inside the National Assembly that it was a collective mistake to prepare the mujahideen to go to war with a global force."

“We did not need to make Mujahideen. We created Mujahideen and then they became terrorists," Sanaullah said while addressing the country’s upper house of Parliament on Tuesday.

Khawaja Asif said Pakistan had long been fond of closeness to the world’s powers, but the question was that “are these powers are standing with us today? No. Pakistan is alone in this war.”

Pakistan's defense minister had earlier claimed that "terrorists" were using Afghanistan's soil against them. But the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has repeatedly said the Afghan soil is not being used against any other country and there are no terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

Political affairs analyst Najibullah Jami said: "Pakistan was the center of terrorism yesterday and it is the center of terrorism today. Through the business and projects of terrorism, Pakistan wants to protect its artificial and fake geography."

He said accusing Afghanistan of harboring terrorists meant Pakistan had been hired for the US interests in the new cold war something reflected in recent attacks in the country.

He said Pakistan’s interior, defense ministers and other civil administration officials all spoke on behalf of the country’s intelligence agency, ISI, and the army.

International relations analyst Tariq Farhadi about the Pakistani officials’ statements said: "The groups like Daesh and TTP which were based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region have now become Pakistan's new enemies after the US left. Pakistan regrets creating these groups for its political purposes and these groups have now become a major challenge for Pakistan.”

ma