KARACHI - Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has said that Iraqi militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is getting momentum in Pakistan and it is more dangerous than Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Addressing a telephonic press conference at Khursheed Begum Secretariat on Friday, he alleged the threat of ISIS was increasing in Pakistan day-by-day and flags of Daish/ISIS were visible from south of Punjab all way till Islamabad.
He said the ISIS, which had been formed by its chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by merging different militant groups, was far more dangerous than the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
He further said several Taliban members along with six commanders had joined the ISIS whereas a large number of terrorist group members were seeking for getting the membership of the ISIS. He said he was the first one to alert Pakistan about Talibanisation in Karachi. He was alerting the nation once again about a bigger threat.
“About 10 years ago, I notified the rulers about Talibanisation in Karachi but the then president, prime minister, Sindh chief minister and governor ignored the issue and denied the phenomenon.
The Sindh CM, in his press conference, not even denied Talibanisation in Karachi but also made fun of my stance. Later the activities of Taliban in the city proved my warning true, he said.
Altaf said the US asked Pakistan to create Taliban following the Cold War. United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan along with many other countries supported Taliban Mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet Union.
Lauding the role of Pakistan Army, MQM chief said the Army was fighting against the militancy. He urged the masses to show their support as Pakistan Army alone cannot save the country from the existing threats.
The MQM chief said PTI chairman Imran Khan and PAT chief Tahirul Qadri were now talking about the rule of the middle class in the country. MQM is the only party that brought the educated people from the middle and working class in the parliaments. MQM brought the representatives of the deprived people in Senate, national and provincial assemblies but it is unfortunate that some senior political analysts ignored this fact and never highlighted these positive acts of MQM. This action of the political analysts should be considered as nonprofessional approach, he added.
To a question about the elements supporting Daish in Pakistan, he said none of the government institutions were backing the Daish but it was regrettable that some of the political and religious groups were supporting the Daish silently.