ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to take up India’s campaign to carry out “extra-territorial and extra-judicial” killings in sheer violation of international law and principles of the UN charter with the United States and Canada.
On Thursday, Islamabad accused India of orchestrating “extra-territorial and extra-judicial” killings in Pakistan. The United States and Canada in the recent past have also alleged India for carrying out similar assassinations.
Over the last two years, over a dozen people were targeted in Pakistan under mysterious circumstances. Most of those killed had one thing in common: They were either Kashmiris or linked with Kashmir cause and all of them were wanted by India one way or the other. Pakistan, for so long, kept a mum over these mysterious killings.
However, on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Cyrus Qazi told the media that India was behind at least in two cases based on the investigations conducted by the Pakistani authorities so far. The two target killings involve Shahid Latif, killed in Sialkot in October 2023 and Muhammad Riaz, assassinated in Rawalakot, AJK in September last year.
According to the Pakistani high official, it has credible evidence to link Indian secret agencies with the target killings.
According to an official privy to the outcome of the investigations, Pakistan would brief Canada and the US about its investigations. Similarly, it would also take into confidence members of the UN Security Council about the “sinister” campaign by India.
The secretary said that India used a very sophisticated and well-organised campaign to take out those targets. The Indian agents, operating from a third country, used criminals and people with a “Jihadi mindset” to execute their plans in Pakistan, he believed.
The Indian agents used different techniques to carry out their plans. For example, in the case of Muhammad Riaz, an Indian agent tried to trace him by telling the locals that somebody owed Rs20 million to him and he wanted to find his whereabouts.
The Pakistani official said that Pakistan not only had confessional statements of the accused but had the money trail, linking Indian agents with these killings.
The official said that India never shared any information about those who got killed in the target assassinations.
