Terrorists must not be called 'militants': Tarar

Says terrorists are terrorists, they have no caste, colour, creed or religion

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday slammed the "unfortunate trend" of referring to terrorists as "militants", saying such terminology diluted the nature of terrorism and should have no place in reporting attacks targeting innocent people.

His remarks came in response to a report by Turkish public broadcaster TRT World on the recent terrorist attack on a Rangers facility in Karachi, in which three security personnel were martyred.

Tarar strongly objected to the broadcaster's use of the word "militants" to describe the attackers, insisting that acts of terrorism must be identified for what they are.

"The Karachi attack was a terrorist attack in which innocent people were killed," he said. "Terrorists must not be called by any other name."

"Terrorists are terrorists, they have no caste, colour, creed or religion," he explained.

Tarar's remarks come days after the military's media wing announced the capture of one of the terrorists involved in the Karachi Rangers facility attack.

The ISPR identified the suspect as an Afghan national linked to the Indian proxy Jaamatul Ahrar. According to the military, he and his accomplices were trained in Afghanistan before infiltrating Pakistan to carry out the attack.

On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Afghan charge d'affaires and lodged a strong demarche over the Karachi terrorist attack.

Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Taliban regime to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries operating from Afghan territory that are used to launch attacks inside Pakistan.

However, those requests have repeatedly gone unanswered.