Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday hit out at what he called an “unfortunate trend” of referring to terrorists as “militants”, saying that the labelling does a disservice to the victims of such attacks.
His remarks came in response to a report by Turkish public broadcaster TRT World covering the recent terrorist attack on a Rangers facility in Karachi, in which three security personnel were martyred. Tarar objected to TRT World’s use of the word “militants” for the terrorists who carried out the attack.
“The Karachi attack was a terrorist attack in which innocent people were killed,” he said. “Terrorists must not be called by any other name.”
He added that “terrorists are terrorists, they have no caste, colour, creed or religion.”
Tarar’s comments come days after the military’s media wing announced the capture of one of the gunmen involved in the Karachi attack. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) identified the individual as an Afghan national with ties to Indian proxy Jaamatul Ahrar, confirming that he and his companions had been trained on Afghan soil before crossing into Pakistan to carry out the assault.
On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Afghan Charge d’Affaires to deliver a formal demarche over the attack.
Islamabad has repeatedly pressed the Taliban administration in Kabul to dismantle militant sanctuaries being used to launch attacks inside Pakistan; appeals that, officials say, have so far gone unheeded.
