No militant training camps in Pakistan, diplomats told

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad-based foreign diplomats were Thursday briefed on the initial investigation report on the Pulwama suicide bombing in which 44 Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in the Indian Held Kashmir.

Attorney general for Pakistan, foreign and interior secretaries and DG Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) were present during the briefing.

The diplomats were informed that the Indian side had shared a paper with Pakistan on February 27 and soon after its receipt an investigation team was constituted, which detained a number of persons for investigation and initiated work on the technical aspects of social media content, the main basis of the Indian paper.

The diplomats were told that the dossier contained a list of 90 suspected militants and 22 locations of alleged training camps. They were informed that 54 detained individuals were being investigated, but no details linking them with the attack had been found so far.

They were told that 22 pin locations shared by India had been examined but no such camps existed there. The Pakistani officials also said Indian officials could be allowed to visit these locations on request.

They were told that Pakistan had conveyed to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad that it would welcome any actionable evidence provided to it so that further investigations could take place.

The diplomats were told that the Indian paper contained 91 pages and six parts, out of which only parts 2 & 3 pertained to Pulwama incident while the other parts were generalised allegations. The diplomats were told that Pakistan was focusing on those parts which related to the Pulwama incident.

They were informed that during the course of investigation all aspects of information provided by India had been thoroughly examined including the “confessional” video of Adil Dar, “claim” of responsibility for the attack, Whatsapp and Telegram numbers used to share videos and messages in support of Pulwama attack, list of 90 individuals suspected of belonging to a proscribed organization and 22 pin locations of alleged training camps.

Service providers have been requested for data including relevant details of activities and contacts of GSM number provided by India. A request for assistance from Whatsapp has also been made to the US government. The diplomats were informed that while 54 detained individuals were being investigated, no details linking them to Pulwama had been found so far.