Pakistan does not rule out foreign hand in Quetta blast

Pakistan said on Thursday that involvement of foreign elements could not be ruled out in a deadly suicide bombing in the southwestern city of Quetta this week that killed over 70 people.

Islamic State and a breakaway faction of the Afghan Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack that prompted a series of high-level security meetings to go after the hideouts of the militant groups.

The army said the security forces have launched a "combing operation" in the suburbs of Quetta following the Aug. 8 attack.

No one has so far been arrested. However Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali told the parliament on Wednesday that security officials have got "some clues" that have been shared with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He also claimed to reach the perpetrators soon.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakariya said there could be possibility of foreign involvement, but he did not directly blame any country for the Quetta carnage.

"The Indian intelligence agencies have remained involved in subversive activities in Pakistan especially Balochistan and Karachi," the Pakistani spokesman told a weekly press briefing.

Pakistani officials claimed in March that security agencies arrested a "serving Indian naval officer" Kulbhushan Yadav in Balochistan for his "anti-state activities to destabilize" the country.

Indian officials denied any links with Yadav, saying that he was a retired officer and was running business in the Iranian port city of Chahbahar.

"The confessional statement of Yadav vindicates Pakistan's claim in this regard," the Pakistani spokesman said.

The spokesman also rejected the Indian allegations of infiltration across the Line of Control, which divides Pakistan and India in the disputed Kashmir region.

"We have a firm position on it and we will not allow our land to be used against any other country. Pakistan itself is the victim of terrorism and it is committed to eradicating the menace," he said.

Indian officials have alleged that Pakistani is interfering in its affairs, in a reference to statements by Pakistani leaders about the violence in the Indian-controlled Kashmir in recent weeks.

Violence gripped the Indian-controlled Kashmir after the security forces killed a commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideeen group.

Expressing concerns over violence in Indian-administered Kashmir, the Pakistani spokesman urged the international community to check what he called "blatant human rights violations" in Kashmir.

He noted that countries including the United States, China, Turkey and Azerbaijan as well as human rights organizations and NGO have expressed their concerns over the situation in Kashmir. Endit