Official states Pakistan has lost thousands of lives due to terrorists

2025-06-11 04:45:59

(MENAFN) Pakistan has lost around 90,000 people to terrorism over the last 15 years, according to Syed Tariq Fatemi, special assistant on foreign affairs to the country’s prime minister. In an interview with RT, Fatemi emphasized Pakistan’s strong commitment to combating terrorism and stressed that neighboring countries have been told to stop extremists from entering Pakistani territory.

He also revealed that terrorism has caused over $1.5 billion in economic losses. Fatemi was in Moscow recently to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discuss Islamabad’s stance on Indo-Pakistan relations.

Addressing the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir — which killed 26 people, most of them tourists — Fatemi firmly denied Pakistan’s involvement, rejecting accusations from New Delhi. Kashmir remains a longstanding point of conflict between India and Pakistan since their independence.

Following the attack, India launched airstrikes on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan. This triggered a four-day escalation, ending with a ceasefire on May 10.

Fatemi questioned India’s claims, arguing that any terrorist attempting to cross into Indian-administered Kashmir would almost certainly be detected due to the region’s heavy military presence. “They’d have to be superhuman,” he said.

He also pointed to a similar event in the 1990s when Pakistan was accused of supporting a terrorist act before a visit by then-U.S. President Bill Clinton. Fatemi noted that former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright later hinted in her memoir that the attack might have been a false flag, and Pakistan had no role in it.

Fatemi appreciated U.S. involvement in de-escalating the current crisis, crediting President Donald Trump for instructing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to engage with both India and Pakistan. Fatemi said Pakistan agreed to the ceasefire following the U.S. request. However, India maintains that the ceasefire was a mutual decision initiated by Pakistan, denying U.S. mediation.

MENAFN11062025000045015687ID1109659799

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.