The Pakistan Army has reportedly admitted to associations between terrorist groups and its top intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). However, it adds that the "links" do not necessarily mean "support" of the terror organisations.
Pakistan Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor, while addressing a press conference on Thursday, said, "There's a difference between support and having links. Name any intelligence agency which does not have links. Links can be positive."
Ghafoor, during the press meet, also said that the Pakistani government was discussing ways to attempt to integrate these militant-linked groups into the mainstream of the country's politics, according to News18.
Milli Muslim League (MML), a new militant party controlled by 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, backed a candidate in the September by-election for a seat vacated by ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.
Saeed is an internationally proscribed terrorist, and the United States has offered a $10 million bounty for his capture.
A report released by Reuters last month had stated that MML and other militant groups' foray into politics follows the integration plan. Nawaz Sharif's three confidants and a retired army general had said that the plan had been presented by ISI to Sharif last year. However, the former premier had rejected it.
Although the Pakistani Army spokesperson did not comment on any similar strategy formulated by the military, he said that the integration plan was aimed at formulating "constructive role" for the militant groups.
"It is in my knowledge that the government has started some discussion over it, that, how do we mainstream them, so that they could do constructive contribution," Ghafoor said.
Earlier, Pakistan's Interior Ministry had asked the electoral commission not to register Saeed's party. However, no action has been taken to stop MML's entry into the country's mainstream politics yet.
