Pakistan plays victim again: Shehbaz points finger at India after Islamabad explosion as Jaish links emerge in Red Fort blast

Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif - File Photo

Pakistan’s leaders are doing what they usually do in a crisis: blaming India instead of facing the growing evidence of their own connection to the violence. Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif has blamed India for the “suicide attack” in Islamabad as well as the attack on a cadet college that took place near the border with Afghanistan earlier today.

“Both attacks are the worst examples of Indian state terrorism in the region.” “It is time for the world to condemn such nefarious conspiracies of India,” he added, according to a post on X by the Government of Pakistan account. “We will continue the war against them until the complete elimination of the scourge of terrorism.”

Notably, this comes a day after a massive blast in a car near Delhi’s Red Fort left 10 people dead and investigators are already connecting the blast to Pakistan-linked networks, with preliminary probes pointing to a Jaish-e-Mohammed footprint and arrests tied to a Faridabad module.

If New Delhi’s inquiry ultimately establishes those links, Islamabad’s immediate rush to accuse India reads less like moral outrage and more like classic hypocrisy: blaming an enemy state for attacks while failing to confront the terror groups that operate from their own soil or have been nurtured for years as strategic tools.

Investigators probing the Red Fort car blast have uncovered disturbing new details that strengthen suspicions of Pakistan-based involvement. The explosion, which killed ten people near the historic monument, was caused by an improvised explosive device fitted inside a Hyundai i20 containing ammonium nitrate fuel oil. According to the investigation, the network behind the blast has direct links to the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), led by Masood Azhar.

Even more alarming is the revelation that JeM has been operating a so-called “women’s wing,” reportedly run by Sadiya Azhar -- believed to be involved in online indoctrination and recruitment drives targeting women across India. The probe has also led to the arrest of Shaheena Shahid, identified as a key member of the module and owner of a Maruti Swift in which police found an assault rifle and ammunition. Shaheena and her associate, Dr. Mujammil Shakeel, a medical professional, were apprehended in Faridabad and are suspected to have played an active role in coordinating the Delhi attack. Officials say the involvement of educated individuals like doctors indicates a dangerous shift in the terror group’s strategy -- one that seeks to expand recruitment beyond traditional militant networks into professional and civilian circles.

These findings, emerging just a day before Pakistan’s Prime Minister stood before the world to accuse India of “state terrorism,” make Islamabad’s blame game look not only hollow but deliberately diversionary.