Pervez Musharraf says ‘Osama bin Laden was Pakistan's hero'; see video

Islamabad: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in an interview admitted that Kashmiris were "trained in Pakistan" as Mujahideen to fight against the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir. He also called jihadi terrorists as Pakistan's "heroes". He also said that terrorists Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and others were "Pakistan's heroes".

In an undated interview clip shared by Pakistani politician Farhatullah Babar on Wednesday on Twitter, Pervez Musharraf can be heard saying, "Kashmiris who came to Pakistan received a hero reception here. We used to train them and support them. We considered them as Mujahideen who will fight with the Indian Army. Then, various terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba rose in this period. They (jihadi terrorists) were our heroes."

During the interview, Gen (retd) Musharraf also said that terrorist like Osama bin Laden and Jalaluddin Haqqani were "Pakistani heroes".

"In 1979, we had introduced religious militancy in Afghanistan to benefit Pakistan, and to push the Soviets out of the country. We brought Mujahideen from all over the world, we trained them and supplied weapons to them. We trained the Taliban, sent them in. They were our heroes. Haqqani was our hero. Osama bin Laden was our hero. Ayman al-Zawahiri was our hero. Then the global environment changed. The world started viewing things differently. Our heroes were turned into villains."

Gen (retd) Musharraf's revelation is proof that Pakistan, which claims to have no interference in Kashmir, has been training terrorists and giving them a safe haven to fuel terrorism in the region.