ISI Behind Pathankot Terror Attack: Former White House Official

Armed forces atop a building near Pathankot air force base. (Photo: AP)

Bruce Reidel, a former White House official, has said that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI, is behind the attack at the Pathankot airbase. According to Reidel’s “well-informed” and “knowledgeable sources”, the ISI used the terrorist group it created 15 years ago – the Jaish-e-Muhammad – to carry out the attack.

Reidel, who was present at the Bill Clinton-Nawaz Sharif meeting during the Kargil war in 1999, said that the Pathankot attack was designed to prevent any sort of reconciliation between India and Pakistan, following Modi’s recent surprise visit to Pakistan.

<p> Any diminution in tensions with India might risk the army’s lock on its control of Pakistan’s national security policy. The army continues to distinguish between ‘good’ terrorists like JeM and LeT and ‘bad’ terrorists like the Pakistani Taliban, despite decades of lectures from American leaders.</p>

<b>Bruce Reidel, Former White House Official</b>

Read The Times of India’s story here.

Also read on The Quint:
Pathankot Attack: Intel and the Keystone Syndrome
Four Questions the Centre Must Answer on the Pathankot Mess
Beyond Pathankot Attack: Well-Trained SWAT Teams Need of The Hour