Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal says he is not afraid of threats by militants

A day after the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) threatened to focus on the highest leaders of the ruling events, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari mentioned that he was not afraid of threats by the militants.

Islamabad,UPDATED: Jan 6, 2023 04:24 IST

File picture of Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

By Press Trust of India: Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday mentioned he was not afraid of threats by the militants, a day after the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) threatened to focus on the highest leaders of the ruling events.

Bilawal instructed the media after chairing the assembly of the central government committee of his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) that he all the time thought of the TTP as a terrorist outfit and its operatives weren’t even people.

“We have already been facing terrorism. The APS (Army Public School) students were killed (in Peshawar in 2014). I term them (TTP people) as extremists and terrorists. I don’t consider them even human beings. We are facing their threat but we will not change our stance,” he said.

The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban, executed around more than 100 attacks last year, most of which happened after August when the group’s peace talks with the Pakistan government began to falter. The ceasefire was formally ended on November 28 by the TTP.

The TTP in a statement on Wednesday pointedly mentioned Bilawal and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by name, as well as their respective parties, and warned religious parties against “activities” in opposition to it.

The TTP, often known as the Pakistan Taliban, was arrange as an umbrella group of a number of militant outfits in 2007. Its foremost intention is to impose its strict model of Islam throughout Pakistan. In 2014, the Pakistani Taliban stormed the Army Public School (APS) within the northwestern metropolis of Peshawar, killing at the very least 150 folks, together with 131 college students. The assault despatched shockwaves internationally, and was extensively condemned.

Posted By:

Manisha Pandey

Published On:

Jan 6, 2023