India has categorically dismissed allegations levelled by a former Taliban spokesman claiming that Taliban militants were in touch with the Afghan intelligence agency and India’s Research and Analyst Wing (RAW) which provided funds and set targets inside Pakistan for attacks.
India has denied the allegations saying ‘there was no credibility to the claims’.
Ehsanullah Ehsan, who had turned himself in to security agencies, said that the militants escaped to Afghanistan after military operations in Pakistan’s tribal region and there they were supported by RAW and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS).
"RAW and NDS facilitated militants. India provided funds and also set targets (for militant activities),” Ehsan alleged in a confessional video released by the Pakistan Army earlier this week.
He said that when he objected to getting help from India, he was told by senior militant Umar Khalid Khorasani that they would even accept help from Israel to target Pakistan.
Ehsan also claimed that NDS facilitated the Pakistani militants by issuing special identity cards called Tazkira for their hassle-free movement in Afghanistan.
Afghan denies Taliban claims
Afghanistan, too, has refuted the allegations saying ‘Pakistan has always been pushing this narrative of being a victim of terrorism, while the fact is it sponsors and supports terrorist activities in Afghanistan and India’.
A known face of violence in Pakistan as former spokesman of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Ehsan joined ISIS linked Jamaat-ul-Ahrar after 2014 military operation Zarb-e-Azb.
Pakistan Military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor last week announced that Ehsan had turned himself in to security agencies. He did not share more details about the surrender.
However, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar issued a statement attributed to its new spokesman Asad Mansour claiming that Ehsan was captured on March 7 by Pakistans spy agency ISI from Afghanistans Paktika province, which borders Pakistan.
With PTI Inputs
