Terrorists must not be called by any other name, says Tarar

Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday criticised the use of the term “militants” to describe those responsible for attacks on civilians, saying “terrorists are terrorists” and should not be referred to by any other name.

In a post on X, Tarar said, “Terrorists are terrorists, they have no caste, colour, creed or religion.” He said there appeared to be “a trend of calling these terrorists, ‘militants’, which is extremely unfortunate”, adding that the terminology used to describe such attacks mattered.

Referring to a report by Turkish public broadcaster TRT World on the recent terrorist attack on a Rangers facility in Karachi, in which three security personnel were killed, Tarar criticised the broadcaster for describing the attackers as “militants”, saying they should instead be referred to as “terrorists”.

“The Karachi attack was a terrorist attack, in which innocent people were killed.” He added that “terrorists must not be called by any other name.”

Tarar’s comments come days after security forces foiled a terrorist attack in Karachi, in which three Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) personnel embraced martyrdom, and four others were injured. The attack, according to the military’s media wing, was launched by “Khawarij belonging to Indian proxy, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar”. The assailants, after a blast at the main gate at the Rangers camp, attempted to breach the perimeter security but were pushed back by personnel who killed three Kharjis and captured one, identified as an Afghan national, in an injured condition.

Fitna al-Khawarij is the state-designated term for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is one of the group’s breakaway factions.

On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said that the Afghan chargé d’affaires was summoned and issued a strong demarche over the attack. The demarche “was issued in light of the fact that Afghan nationals, including one apprehended alive, participated in this attack, proving yet again that Afghan soil and Afghan nationals continue to be used to orchestrate terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.”

Earlier, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said security forces had carried out precision strikes on terrorist camps and safe havens of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khawarij in Afghanistan’s Paktia, Paktika and Kunar provinces, killing 29 terrorists. The strikes were conducted under Operation Ghazab Lil Haq on the night of June 28-29 after an attack on a Rangers camp in Karachi.

Fighting ​between Pakistan and Afghanistan started in October, ⁠killing scores on both sides, with Afghans taking the brunt. Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of harbouring ⁠terrorists who launch attacks in Pakistan, ​although Kabul denies this, calling the militancy Islamabad’s domestic problem.