No footprints of Islamic State in Pakistan: Foreign Secretary

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Sunday ruled out the footprints of the Islamic State (IS) in Pakistan and said no citizen could be allowed to have links with the terrorist organisation.
“Pakistan has the capability to thwart threats by any terrorist organisation, including the Islamic State,” Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said in an interview with Radio Pakistan.
Chaudhry said terrorism was on its last gasps and Pakistan was winning the war on terror with complete support of the masses.
Meanwhile, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Sunday said Pakistan abhorred terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations and it stood behind the people and the Government of France in the wake of Friday’s terror attacks in Paris.
Addressing a function organised by the Foreign Office in connection with the annual bazaar of Pakistan Foreign Office Women’s Association, Sadiq said Pakistan, itself a victim of terrorism for over a decade, shared the grief and pain of the French people.
Sadiq said he had also spoken to the ambassador of France in Islamabad to convey him the feelings of parliamentarians and the people of Pakistan about the tragic incident.
He said from Peshawar to Paris the mindset behind such terrorist activities was the same and these terrorists were the enemies of Islam and humanity.
The speaker said he had written a letter to his French counterpart expressing solidarity with those who had lost their lives in terrorist attacks.
Sadiq said Pakistan had suffered huge losses and lost over 65,000 people in the war against terror. He said the need of the hour was to cooperate and join hands against terrorism.
He called for joint global efforts to eradicate terrorism and said Pakistan was willing to extend support to the global community in this fight.
Addressing the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London on October 3, army chief General Raheel Sharif made it clear that Pakistan would not allow ‘even a shadow’ of the IS on its soil and termed the terrorist group a greater threat than al-Qaeda.
“There are people in Islamabad who want to show their allegiance to the IS. So it’s a very dangerous phenomenon,” General Raheel had warned.