Terror sponsoring

Why Imran Khan Acknowledged Pakistan’s Role in Training Jihadists

On Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan landed himself in fresh controversy when he talked about Pakistan’s role in training jihadists during the late 1980s and sustaining contacts with them. Khan made the following remarks while speaking at a think tank in New York: “There were always links between them [security agencies and jihadist groups] — there had to be links, because they [security agencies] trained them.”

While Khan may have invited criticism over his remarks, the comments are likely to end up helping Pakistan’s case at different forums internationally.

It’s important to note that the question of the militant groups’ alleged support base in Pakistan at the state level is considered a sensitive issue, and one that every elected Pakistani government prefers to ignore. However, the recent comments are not the only occasion when Khan talked about extremist group links with the Pakistani state in the context of the Afghan jihad. In July, Khan lamented the huge human and financial cost of allying with the United States to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan. Khan noted then that due the operations Pakistan undertook as part of its alliance with Washington, including training jihadists, had cost the country greatly.