RAW, NDS helping terrorists in Pakistan: Janjua

Naseer Janjua tells US ambassador Quetta attackers were constantly in touch with handlers in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua has told US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale that the spy agencies of India and Afghanistan are covertly supporting Afghanistan-based terrorists to hit soft targets in Pakistan.

“There is a need to break the nexus of Afghanistan-based terrorists who are operating under the patronage of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and National Directorate of Security (NDS),” Janjua told Hale, who called on him on Wednesday.



According to an official statement, issues concerning Monday night’s brazen attack on the Police Training College in Quetta, Pakistani security force’s counter-terrorism operations and terrorists’ cross-border attacks came under discussion during the meet.



In the Quetta assault, mounted by three suicide bombers, 62 police cadets were killed while more than hundred recruits sustained injuries.

Janjua informed the US ambassador that the attackers were constantly in touch with their handlers based in Afghanistan. “Pakistan needs the US support in this regard,” he added.

The NSA said peace in Afghanistan was directly linked to peace in Pakistan, adding that political reconciliation in Afghanistan was inevitable for stability in the region.



Janjua also briefed Hale on the efforts Pakistan is making to improve the security situation by implementing the National Action Plan against terrorism. The US ambassador also apprised the NSA of the initiatives the US has taken to improve security situation in Afghanistan.

“David [Hale] also condemned the attack on Quetta’s Police Training College and expressed his deepest regrets and also offered all-out help from US in this regard,” the statement added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2016.