Pakistan military denies BBC report on Taliban links
A number of middle-ranking Taliban commanders detailed what they said was extensive Pakistani support in interviews for a BBC Two documentary series, the first part of which was broadcast Wednesday.
A former head of Afghan intelligence also told the program Afghanistan gave Pakistan's former president, General Pervez Musharraf, information in 2006 that Osama bin Laden was hiding in northern Pakistan. The former al Qaeda leader was killed in the same area by US special forces in May this year.
"We consider that this report is highly biased, it is one-sided, it doesn't have the version of the side which is badly hit or affected by this report," Major General Athar Abbas, spokesman for the Pakistani military, told Reuters.
"So therefore, other than that, it's factually incorrect."
One Taliban commander, Mullah Qaseem, told the BBC that Pakistan had played a significant role in providing supplies and a hiding place for Afghan Taliban fighters.
Abbas denied the claim, questioning Qaseem's credibility.
He said the head of Pakistan's spy agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had already said "not a single bullet or financial support" had been given to groups named in the BBC report.
The United States has long suspected Pakistan, or elements within the ISI, of supporting militant groups in order to increase its influence in Afghanistan, particularly after Nato combats troops leave in 2014.
In September, Admiral Mike Mullen, then the top US military officer, accused Pakistani intelligence of backing violence against US targets including the US embassy in Kabul. He said the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, blamed for the September 13 embassy attack, was a "veritable arm" of the ISI.
Pakistan denies the US allegations.
Pakistan supported the Afghan Taliban before the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. It was one of only three countries to have diplomatic relations with the group.
Abbas said the number of attacks against the ISI by the Pakistani Taliban was proof the ISI did not support militants.
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Assalam-o-Allaikum Warahmatullah.There is a phrase in Punjabi,id est,par tusi deyo kaan asi aap khud bana liyan ge" and in English "give us a wing and we shall make crow ourselves".Advanced Western countries are doing the same with Pakistan because Pakistani leaders provide clues about the terrorism to them and they fabricate themselves.You don't provide them clues about terrorism and they can't fabricate.This is our corrupt leaders' the biggest committed mistake even blunder when they provide advanced Western countries' leaders clues about terrorism and they fabricate and don't miss any chance to defame Pakistan in regard of terrorism.
If the military really thought the report was a lie they would be going after the Pakistani sources who supplied false information to the BBC, rather than the reporters themselves. Just as the military is pursuing the doctor who helped the Americans find Osama Bin Laden, rather than investigate which Pakistanis helped Al-Qaeda's leader.
@csmann: where has the support for the Afghans been denied or acknowledged i have stated the obvious..every country has the right to protect its interests.. look at all nations of the world do hey turn the other cheek when they are being so overtly threatened...
@Agenda: In that case the Army would be concerned about prosecuting Pakistanis for making false statements, rather than persecuting the reporters filming them do so.
BBC Documentary is here (below). See for yourself if it’s real or not.
Secret Pakistan : Double Cross
@jagjit sidhoo: Not new, its a well known fact. Nothing can be done about your ignorance, actual or intentional.
I know one thing: Nothing ever came positive about Pakistan from BBC. Be it Cricket, Flood, or anything else. BBC is has such agenda from long time. Who is behind this? I don't care.
@Waqas Alvi: Search it on youtube. I provided the URLs but TET did not publish it:(
@Prasad Mumbai: Please mind your rebels, we will take care of the Taliban.
@Waqas Alvi: Its on youtube. Type :Secret Pakistan: Double cross" and search...
can anyone inform me; where can I watch it online??????
@Irfan: I hope your voices are heard...
this allegation is like a student in Boston university tells BBC Correspondence that CIA is supporting OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT, will the western BBC broadcast with headline news news.. CIA SUPPORTING OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT....
Pakistan aims at Proactive Denials ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Deny before the accusation is made.
Motto" In Denial We Live"
@SaudiRules: And thereby change the status of Major Abbas to "unemployed"?
How unfair!
@hillbilly: "some hypocrites will express moral outrage at nuclear option but remember when your very survival is at stakes you can’t take any option off the table".
So as I understand, your plan is to nuke Israel (who is in no way involved in this conflct) as a way of punishing US because you have existential threat from USA? You think that nuking Israel would INCREASE your chance of survival? You wouldn't actually get bombed out of your existence if you tried that?
Think a little before you write.
You know i remember what a great freedom fighter in India once said "SWARAJ IS MY BIRTH RIGHT AND I SHALL HAVE IT". Pakistanis have these lines - "DENIAL IS MY BIRTH RIGHT AND I SHALL HAVE IT FOR EVER"!!
@Jamshed: If this continues like this for some more years then we will be denying that Pakistan ever existed on the face of this earth.
@Ashraf: In case you haven't noticed, Pakistan already has a well deserved bad name!
@Arfan: That is a great comment and the only one here worth reading.
Deny, Deny, Deny--Deny after each and every war which we started, deny after every act of terror which we are invloved in! We as a nation, have serious mental problems at this point. The condition of the country is truly heart breaking, and we are living in our denial world. How did we even get to this point? I call upon all sane, open minded and secular people of Pakistan to stop living in this denial and pledge to work on education, betterment of the economy, peace and friendly relations towards all countries of the world! Please stand up for a better Pakistan.
@Arfan: Hello if educated and working in international atmosphere young people like you deny the facts then what is the future of Pakistan?
@fahim: No why should you. What ever the Military and ISI says is always true. You must always believe them as they are the LORD and MASTERS
The establishment (the greatest in the world) stands tall before the Americans in front of the people. At the back, they listen and do what the Americans tell them. Why are they fooling their people?
Pakistan Military DO NOT even know who Taliban is !! This is a frame up. An Indian-Israeli-US-NATO conspiracy to bring Pakistan a bad name.
Might is right. What would these american rented taliban say other than blaming pak army.
There is no news in it! Everyone knows Pakistan does support some factions of Taliban and it will continue to be the case till we have good relations with the US & India. . When we look at past performance, sadly neither Pakistan can trust the US nor US can trust us. . India and Pakistan also needs to have a lot of soul searching and honest debate. There is no point listening to 'others' saying 'we are good and Pakistan is bad'. .
The BBC announced that Pakistan is considrring taking legal action against BBC. I think thats the best course.
Paani ka Paani, dudh ka dudh.
@Arfan. and I bet you believe 9/11 was an American and jew conspiracy and 26/11 Mumbai was also done by India itself harming its own citizens.
Sadly this mindset in Pakistan is not limited to the madarsa educated medieval muslims but even to english and foreign educated 'modern' pakistanis.
For those who questioning the integrity of BBC, it was BBCs documentary that brought Tony Blair Govt on its knees.
just an act to put Pakistan under pressure... OR the US military commanders are incompetent enough to not figure this out on their own for last 10 years??? makes me laugh everytime i look at this news... because it makes me wonder BBC is more competent than CIA or US Military
@Wasim Butt: Wow, I thought that Pakistan already had a bad reputation due to being perceived as the epicenter of WORLD TERRORISM! lets see; 1) OBL lived all those years in Abbotabad right under the nose of the Army, 2) Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba suspected of launching the 2008 Mumbai massacre ( remember Ajmal Kasab and David Headley?) 3) The shoe bomber, Richard Reed, trains in Pakistan (Who ever vouched for him on his entry form?), 4) The Quetta Shura appears to run Taliban operations from inside Pakistan! I don't suppose that any of these listed "conspiracies" did any good to Pakistan's reputation, but I guess in certain circles I could be wrong. So now you want to teach India and America a lesson when you can't even manage your own countries affairs!
I think its time ISI and Pak Army come on TV and tell us what's going on? We are the Pak citizens & have all the right to support or ask question to our troop. I hope they don't mind explaining to the people what are they protecting them from. Also, what the world is saying is wrong & base less and why should we believe them.
@Arfan, you should return from infidel UK to work for the development of Land of the Pure, instead of blaming on external forces. Pakistani military has been a willing participant terror alliance, smooching the West while doing the biddings of their wahabi overloards on the sly.
@a2s: Very good - thanks for admitting the charges, although your buddlies who aren't so forthcoming will now doubtless consider you a Zionist agent for maligning the Pakistani military. How's the weather in Tel Aviv?
We Pakistani believe the documentry by the international irrational news agency BBC is a commercial venture prepared by British State Media and Afghan Intelligence blaming just to malign Pakistan’s reputation with malicious propaganda and making absurd reasons to prolong NATO (The New East India Company) and US stay in Afghanistan. How stupid are those who believe one fine morning that "justice has been done and Osama was killed in Pakistan" where I see it as the same stunt as WMDs in Iraq and no evidences are shared except importing and planting stealth chooper's wreakage and OBL's widows. The US aid, as quoted earleir, was not more than peanuts which were supposed to be paid exclusively for the services of Pak Army rendered in this imposed War on Terror by US where the Anti-Pakistan Ostriches are hiding their heads in the sand and could not see 13 Indian council offices along side PAK border in Afghan borders who are supporting and sponsoring TTP for militantancy in Pakistan with US funds (Raymond Davis had links with them). The Mother in Law of Pakistan keeps on blaming us and knitting illogical conspiracy theories despite the fact that PAK has lost more than 6000 troops/law enforcing personals and 35000 citizens. I see it as Khakis and ISPR's good gestures by simplying denying these pathetic accusations where I believe they deserved a proper SHUTUP call here.
@grain2315: so yes Pakistan should support the taliban and all other groups which are allied to it
so you agree that taliban and other groups are allied with pakistan;so why all this denial?
Ok, so if Pakistan was supporting the Taliban, then let's accept that the 500-600 suicide attacks in Pakistan were indeed foreign intelligence agencies (RAW, CIA and Mossad). If that's not the case then why would the Taliban conduct suicide bombings in Pakistan?(Please don't give the lame 'come home to roost' BS)
the propaganda against Pakistan was started in order that the obvious is not asked?? why has the US failed in Afghanistan..and to cover up its failure and now they want to find a scapegoat and the most obvious is that neighbour, with a spineless government..but a brave people.. its shame the government is not as brave and selfless as the people of Pakistan.
but than that's another debate for another day!
@Wasim Butt: thanks to give RAW the ownership of BBC......!!!!!!!
@Wasim Butt: "...These are all conspiracies to malign Pakistan’s reputation and give us a bad name internationally." What reputation? What name?
question is not denial or acceptance does Pakistan want a friend on the eastern border or a foe equally if the west NATO/ USA truly had Pakistan,s interests at heart why did they allow the Indians such influence in Afghanistan and specifically so near the border with Pakistan, Pakistan was and is still being attacked regularly from Afghanistan. so i would say it is only right and proper that Pakistan should protects its interests, its such a shame that Pakistan does not put the resources into relaying its fears on the world stage same as the Indians and other nations have done.. so yes Pakistan should support the taliban and all other groups which are allied to it. this message should be conveyed to the BBC and other propaganda organs of the west.
@NY: It is not fighting and blaming each other. Dirty tricks of our enemies to malign and isolate Pakistan must be thrown back in their faces. A shameful propaganda campaign sponsored by Tajik dominated Afghan Intelligence, RAW and CIA has been unleashed against Pakistan to pressurize our country to accept the US dictation. If Pakistan has denied the allegations then there is no reason for us not to believe the denial. The countries involved in this anti Pakistan nexus are themselves the biggest liars. Their intelligence agencies mostly rely on lies and cooked up allegations. The recent example is their stupid and almost comical allegation against Iran about plotting the assassination of Saudi ambassador in Washington. Almost all the countries of the world have rejected the most flimsy evidence produced by US. In their dealings with Pakistan the US never had any shame for their double gaming, leveling false allegations and adopting extremely coercive measures to bully Pakistan. I salute the Military leadership of Pakistan which in the face of tremendous US pressure has demonstrated extra ordinary robustness in protecting Pakistan's long term security interests.
After reading Arfan and Hillbilly's comments, I can only hope Allah (swt) can protect us from such delusion at the controls. No one wants to see such conspiratorial war mongering fantasies transform into self-fulfilling prophecies.
@Wasim Butt: Good one Wasim. Keep it up !!!
Irfan i agree with ur comments . Any sensible and educated person can make out ,what game is being planned. Unfortunately media is also becoming a tool in the hands of those forces who are taking this world towards end of the world. Mind u Pakistan is not Iraq or Afghanistan, consequences of any adventure against Pakistan would have very disastrous results.
@Wasim Butt:
Having taken name of USA and Indian agents may I know why I think you missed out Israeli Mussad (sic)??
Khuda Hafiz
Kallu Mama (India)
I blame Pakistan's 3rd rate lobbyist lawyers for giving them bad advice, like they do to their criminal defendants......"Deny, deny, till you die!"
lying and denying can work for a while, but eventually truth comes out in the open.That is why pakistan ,in spite of making so much contribution to the war against terrorism, is still looked with suspicion by the rest of the world;time to clean your own house.
All military formations keep SOP's ie Standard Operating Procedures ready to deal with any type of situation expeditiously. Pakistan military excels in issue of such denials for all type of accusations hurled at them for the past three decades without any loss of time since SOP's for for all scenarios are kept ready and only fill in the blanks is done. To prove my point one only has to read the text of denials issued by military recently in which simillar type of language is used, but none the less quite enjoyable.
@SaudiRules: SaudiRules, pl read / analyze the facts, and have some sense while commenting on pak army and ISPR,
i think u and ur american counter parts have ISI fobia , my advise is to go to some doctor and get urself checked. Every sensible person knows that what game is being planned against Pakistan.Also ponder upon the statement of ms clinton that every spy agency has links with all type of groups. Mind u till the time a single soldier of Pak army and ISI is live , these conspiracy theories against Pakistan will be a failure. We all patriot Pakistanis stand with our Army and ISI. Arfan i appreciate ur analysis.
Anyone with average IQ level will think twice before accepting this report that why will Talibans disclose their link with Pakistani counterparts if they are working for them ? I guess media is a new world order now. They lied about Iraqi WMD and now they have exaggerated a hell lot against Pakistan with such crap reports every now and than.
The entire 1 hr video did not mentioned a word on thousands of Pakistani killed in this war (suicide bombing and drone attacks) which makes me believe that the truth is incomplete!
Thankyou Arfan .. your comment is the only one here worth reading.
@Wasim Butt: BBC controlled by RAW that is a new one
Look this is what the whole world knows. a range of american and european writers have produced books and documents to prove their point but what is the bottom line. these people again come andd do business with them. who gave them neuclear power and who welcomed these dictators who unconstiutionally overthrown the elected governments. Come on gues if your are sincere, tell these Generals that enough is enough.
The reaction to denial of Pak-military is a bit exaggerated. Someone commented that Pakistan has two faces, well, there are super powers which have specialized in changing faces and strategic partners. It is not surprising that from the President to the spokespersons of defence and foreign ministries briefed the entire world with fake images and false documentation that Iraq possessed WMD. Did they find any, HELL NO.. Many of the top officials including Collin Powel stated that they were coerced by the security services, the CIA and the like. Now, there was a planned documentary broadcasted by BBC, which presented "GOD KNOWS WHO", claiming that they were trained by the ISI. Should the govt and military of Pakistan stage an apology for something that is not proven. You say, I say, he say and keep saying. Realistically, as Mrs. Clinton agreed that every Intelligence agency has links with all type of groups. But a fair question is that why would Pakistan train Taliban when its own soldiers and civilians are slaughtered by the same forces. The psychological warfare exactly starts in this manner. Keep pushing until the opposition accepts that whatever the charges are - correct and the country in question surrenders to the demands of the most powerful. The actual situation still is the same. The US needs help to get out from Afghanistan and need it NOW. Please ask Pakistan to get the allied forces a better deal through negotiation. It appears difficult after all to kill the desire of Afghan people through occupation.
I thnk we should act like the educated people we r and find a solution rather than throwing it at each others faces.
Fighting and blaming each othr is not going to solve this. lets just work togthr in educating the masses and removing this entire concept of talibans from the world with education bcuz Violence only leads to Violence and education is onething that is holding everyone from going for each others throat.
It is a cooked up anti Pakistan propaganda film prepared by Afghan Intelligence and BBC jointly. On the other hand Americans have publicly admitted that they do not have any proof against Pakistan but Afghan intelligence in cooperation with RAW has indulged in this malicious campaign.
yes we will give support to whomever wants to fight the INVADERS its country ..previously USSR in this case the US and its nato allies...
@John: Like US and NATO have two faces. One they say that they are fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan the other face they have is that provide safe heavens to those Taliban who fight against Pakistan. Selective morality for preaching purposes, isn't it.
@SaudiRules: When a country or its institutions are targeted with malicious propaganda, denial is the bare minimum response which that country can offer.
@Jamshed "I still deny that OBL Existed in Pakistan "
Let your gvt deny the fact first. Your gvt still shouting that killing OBL in Abottabad is attack on its Sovereignty.
@wasim Butt " BBC is controlled by RAW and CIA"
Very illogical, utterly foolish to say BBC is controlled by US/India, Its British state media.
Thank god, you didnt say BBC is controlled by Taliban..:-)
Seriuosly, Since Pakistan on ur list next so anythng tht anyone does would be linked to my country. Agreeing with Jamshed I mean wasn't OBL suppose to be in his late 60s when he was killed and the photograph showed was hardly of a 40 year old male.
One thing I know is the media has the power to make and break a country so i would say is that use it for the betterment of the world rather than blaming others for ur weaknesses.
@Jamshed Don't forget the three widows - they are still in Pakistan!!! Surely their presence means OBL was there that night. By the way - Al Qaeda has as well accepted that OBL is dead.
Some Famous Denials.
A. Pakistan Army id not involved in Kargil- Musharraf on phone from Beijing.
B. Kasab is not a Pakistani- Pakistan Govt immediately after Mumbai.
C. LeT is a charitable organisation / non-state agent- Till UN resolution against LeT.
D. OBL is not in Pakistan- Musharraf and Pak Army since 2001
E. There is no Quetta Shura- Pak Army till about 6 months back.
F. Haqqanis are not state guests of Pakistan- Till very recently.
Add one more for good effect.
@jhon,
our understanding with USA was to support it against al-qaida and we extended every possible help in that regard.....pushtuns are our brothers and they are waging insurgency against an occupier who is master of orwellian double speak. pushtuns are freedom fighters not terrorists .
Of course as expected ISPR has denied everything. They are the world's experts in denial and I don't think that there is any comparable organisation which denies everything that the entire world says - fantastic keep it up.
this report seems biased, even if its not biased pakistan should not be apologetic about it. its our moral obligation to support the pushtons and stick to the man.
BBC documentary is a fake by all means, anyone can get a person with a talib look and then ask him to say things like "ISI told that they were training us" I mean are you serious ?? its fake fake fake !!!
@waseem butt: this is all a pakistani common so-called moderate muslim do?? just blame US and knit conspiracy theories.
American's may not be popular in Pakistan - but time and time again they have proven that they are more credible than the Pakistani govt. No one should be surprised by this disclosure. American's have been polite enough to say that "elements" within the Pakistani govt are responsible for these actions but the fact that Pakistan govt hasn't done anything to root out these "elements" makes it obvious that these "elements" are well established.
@Wasim Butt:
Obviously it is ALWAYS RAW/CIA/MI6/MOSSAD/ and what have you, isn't it?
when was they ever accepted anything. I'm inclined to go with the @soudirules comments
@UttamChand ... I still deny that OBL Existed in Pakistan ... There were no photographs of operation no video no dead body .......... and he ws burried into the sea... the only evidence we have that OBL was in Pakistan is the wreckage of stealth chopper ..
America gives aid to Pakistan. Pakistan gives weapons and protection to Taliban. Talibam kill American Troops. Makes sense huh?
This is all clearly Indian and American propaganda. BBC is controlled by RAW and CIA. These are all conspiracies to malign Pakistan's reputation and give us a bad name internationally. We should teach a lesson to India and America. Pakistan Zindabad! Pakistan Army Zindabad!
and you want us to believe this..
Great Job, Pakistanis. You guys have two faces - one of pretending to fight terror and other to support terror. How long will you fool the world? You guys are caught once again red handed after OBL.
Khakis and ISPR are doing so much denying that Athar Abbas of ISPR should make a recording of the "standard" denial and play it on PTV, 365 days, 24/7. This way Athar Abbas does not have to bother to make the same useless, chest puffing statements, every time there are accusation.