The Ministry of Data and Broadcasting on Monday rejected Zalmay Khalilzad’s deceptive remarks concerning the killing of a Daesh-Khorasan commander in Punjab, saying the previous US envoy had created a misunderstanding concerning the group’s presence within the province.
Khalilzad wrote on X on Sunday night time: “Excellent news from Pakistan: Reportedly a senior [Daesh]-Ok commander Burhan, also called Zaid, was killed in Patak a part of Akhtarabad metropolis in Punjab.”
The ministry’s official fact-check account stated that the incident being referenced really occurred at Habibabad, Kasur, on March 5, and in addition shared a duplicate of the First Data Report (FIR) registered at Saddar Patoki police station on March 6.
It added that the “sufferer, Burhan, was killed by a dacoity/robbery-related incident or a case of private enmity, not a counter-terror operation”.
The ministry categorically stated that there was “no proof” linking Burhan to Daesh, nor was he a commander. “The case stays a prison matter, not associated to militancy or organised terror teams.”
It stated that there was no presence of Daesh components in Punjab province, based on credible safety assessments.
The ministry stated that Khalilzad’s submit “twists a purely prison or private dispute right into a terrorism-linked killing, making a misunderstanding of ISKP exercise in Punjab”.
