In a viral interview with UK-based news agency, Pakistani senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) acknowledged the nation’s historical ties to terrorism. Rehman, while discussing the al-Qaeda-linked Brigade 313 group, referred to this period as Pakistan’s “past” and evaded direct questions about the group’s activities.
Responding to the journalist Yalda Hakim, the PPP senator evaded questions on Pakistan’s record of harbouring extremist entities, especially Brigade 313, and stated that Pakistan as a country has “changed.”
Considered by many scholars and intelligence experts as al-Qaeda’s most “dangerous and effective” unit in South Asia, Brigade 313 poses a significant threat, reportedly overseeing terrorist operations along the Afghan-Pakistan and Indo-Pakistan borders. This al-Qaeda-linked group is commanded by Ilyas Kashmiri, who also leads al-Qaeda’s military organization, the Shadow Army. The “313” in its name holds Islamic significance, referring to the companions of Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Badr. Adding to concerns, US intelligence, as reported by The Long War Journal, indicates close ties between Brigade 313 and the Pakistani Taliban, with the group even recruiting from Pakistan’s own military and intelligence services.
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