ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Bushra Gohar, a former Pakistani lawmaker has publicly challenged the country’s defense minister over his recent admission that Pakistan supported terrorist groups for decades, questioning the government’s role in harboring Osama bin Laden.
Gohar posted on X following comments made by Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif in an interview with Sky News, in which he acknowledged Pakistan’s backing of militants during the Cold War and the U.S.-led war on terror.
“Who brought and harbored Osama bin Laden?” Gohar wrote. “Who was contracting the American projects of terrorists? You raised questions about the sovereignty of the country. Will the government constitute a Truth Commission?”
Asif had admitted during the interview that Pakistan carried out “dirty work” for the United States and its allies for more than three decades, calling it a strategic mistake. His remarks have drawn significant domestic and international attention, coming amid heightened tensions with India following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir earlier this week.
Pakistani officials have denied any involvement in the Kashmir attack, instead accusing India of supporting armed separatist movements inside Pakistan — a claim New Delhi rejects.
The fallout from the attack, which left 26 civilians dead, has pushed the already strained relationship between the two nuclear-armed neighbors closer to crisis. Tensions over the disputed region of Kashmir have historically fueled political and military confrontations between India and Pakistan, with periods of dialogue often interrupted by outbreaks of violence.
Gohar’s comments reflect growing domestic demands for accountability over Pakistan’s decades-long strategy of using militant groups to influence regional conflicts — a policy that critics say has backfired and isolated the country internationally.
