Srinagar, July 25 (KNO) : The Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday hit back at Pakistan PM Imran Khan for saying Pakistan had no role in the Pulwama attack, stating that the Army and the country was fully aware of the truth and that Pakistan should refrain from any misadventure like Kargil as army was fully capable to retaliate with vengeance.
According to KNO, while talking to reporters on the eve of Vijay Diwas at Drass, the army chief said that "We are aware of the truth. So we don't have to get carried away by any statement. The truth is known to us and our establishment. Our intelligence agencies had given ample proof of what had happened in Pulwama and that is all I would like to say."
During his recent US visit, Imran Khan said, "A Kashmiri boy was radicalized after the brutalities of the Indian security forces and he carried out the attack, but suddenly Pakistan came into the limelight." Khan's justification is that although Jaish is based in Pakistan, it also has presence in Kashmir and thus the attack is an "indigenous thing" that happened in India.
Forty CRPF personnel were killed on February 14 when a CRPF convoy was attacked by a Jaish militant who rammed an IED and other explosive-laden vehicle into one of the CRPF vehicles at Lethpora, Pulwama. Jaish later released a video of the fidayeen Adil Dar, who attacked the convoy and claimed responsibility for the attack.
The army chief also warned Pakistan of not to repeat the Kargil war like misadventure stating that army was fully capable of giving befitting reply to the other side. “We are capable to retain our posts and to re-capture our posts if they are captured by the enemy,” he said.
After his meeting with the US President, Imran Khan admitted that successive governments in Pakistan did not tell the truth to the United States, in particular in the last 15 years. Imran Khan said that there were 40 different militant groups operating in his country.
Imran Khan also deflected a question on the latest arrest of Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed. Asked about Hafiz Saeed's seventh arrest that came right ahead of his US visit, Imran Khan said "we do not allow any armed militant groups to operate in our country.”
The comments came after Imran Khan held a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House in which the two leaders even broached the Kashmir topic.(KNO)