NDS, RAW behind Dassu terrorist attack: FM Qureshi

FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the Afghan soil was used Dasu incident

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday said that the role of Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies behind Dasu incident is visible.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday, he said that the Afghan soil was used in Dasu incident, adding that a smuggled vehicle was used in the incident. He said that the Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) were involved in the attack.

The foreign minister said that China had expressed concern over Dasu incident and information regarding the incident had also been shared with Chinese team.

Qureshi said that Pakistani investigators have identified the vehicle used in Dasu incident, adding that footage of 36 CCTV cameras had been checked during the investigation.

The FM said that the first target of attackers was Diamer Bhasha Dam, adding that after failing to target Diamer Bhasha Dam, the attackers targeted Dasu. He went on to say that Afghanistan’s spoilers are targeting Pakistan, adding that the spoilers want to divert attention from the internal situation in Afghanistan.

The foreign minister further said that the enemies couldn’t digest the growing Pak-China friendship; therefore, they wanted to create rifts in their bilateral ties.

Qureshi said that both Pakistan and China have decided that their all-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership will continue and even further be expanded. 

The FM said the government of Pakistan kept the Chinese side into loop at every phase of the investigation and China is fully satisfied with the investigations conducted by Pakistani agencies. "We facilitated the Chinese team to visit and examine the incident site and shared with them all information we had," he said.

FM Qureshi said enemies will not succeed in their nefarious designs in harming the all-weather friendship between Pakistan and China. He said both countries are unanimous to further strengthen their bilateral cooperation, after this incident. He said we have decided that all China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects will continue and be completed within the stipulated time.

Speaking on the occasion, DIG Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Khyber Pakhtukhwa Javed Iqbal said that the vehicle used in the blast was smuggled into Pakistan via Chaman border and brought in Swat in November 2020.

The DIG CTD said 14 persons were involved in the Dasu bus attack, and an Afghan named Tariq affiliated with the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) brought the suicide bomber into the blast site.