In a FIRST, Pakistan's Bilawal Bhutto admits presence of terror groups in country, says, 'We have...'

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in India, terrorists opened fire at Baisaran Valley in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, killing 26 people including a local. The terror attack—one of the worst in the history—crossed several limits. At first, innocent tourists were targeted; second, they were enquired about their religion and later gunned down. 

In the aftermath, India launched 'Operation Sindoor' and destroyed nine terror camps in Pakistan's Punjab province and Pak-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). Pakistan, in a desperate attempt to hit back, directed attacks at Indian bordering states including Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Punjab, killing more than 15 people. 

The three-day-long conflict came to a halt with ceasefire on May 10. Now, weeks after India's one of the biggest military operations, former Pakistan foreign minister and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari seems to accept that Pakistani groups were involved in the attack. At the same time, he refuses to accept that the Pak state was behind the attacks. 

In a conversation with The Wire, Bhutto said, "Pakistan doesn't permit the groups you mentioned (Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba) to conduct terrorist attacks outside of Pakistan but also within Pakistan. We have faced the brunt of terrorism over the past many decades. Pakistan is and has been fighting the largest war against terrorism. We lost 92,000 lives altogether."

"I too am a victim of terrorism. I feel the pain of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. I understand the trauma that their families are experiencing in a way more than others can ever imagine", he added. 

'Not running away from past'

The PPP Chief ackowledged former Pak dictators' involvement in what he called "zihadification" of the country. "We are not running away from the past. But we must not be bogged down by past and ignore the reality either. Pakistan along with the international community and the dictator general Zia-ul-Haq orchestrated the 'zihadification' of Pakistan as a society'". 

"Pakistan groups or individuals who were in Pakistan were trained by the international community to conduct 'zihad' within the context of Afghanistan. This is the past. This is what happened in the past", he added.