Sheikh Rasheed fears increase in terror attacks

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has said that the country could witness an increase in incidents of terrorism in the next two months.

In an interview with BBC, the minister said sleeper cells of banned outfits in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have become active. There is sufficient evidence that India’s RAW was involved in the Jauhar Town blast in Lahore, he said, adding the man behind the recent Anarkali blast has not been traced yet.

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Rasheed said he feels that the Afghan Taliban don’t have influence over the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Some TTP men have joined the militant Daesh, he claimed.

He said the TTP demands, including the release of its prisoners, cannot be accepted.

The interior minister maintained that efforts are on to bring back former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been in London for over two years. “It was our fault that we let him travel abroad,” he admitted. “Nawaz Sharif went abroad by deceiving us all.”

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The government is going to ink a pact with the UK on repatriation of convicted criminals, he said.

Talking about the resignation of adviser to the PM on accountability and interior Shahzad Akbar, Rasheed explained that slow progress in cases against the Sharif family were not the only reason behind his move but he also failed to bring back the money siphoned off abroad.

He said the government and the Pakistan Army are on the same page. “The army and the government may have different viewpoints but both are on one page,” he elaborated.