In a stunning and unusually candid admission, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has publicly stated that Islamabad spent decades supporting terrorist groups as part of Western-led geopolitical agendas. In an interview with Sky News aired on April 25, Asif claimed that Pakistan had been “doing the dirty work” for the United States and the United Kingdom, a statement that essentially confirms long-suspected accusations that the South Asian nation acted as a conduit for Western covert operations.

“We have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades, you know, and the West, including Britain,” Asif stated, in a moment of uncharacteristic transparency from a top Pakistani official.

The remarks, made during a conversation with a British broadcaster, have reverberated across geopolitical circles and sparked renewed scrutiny into the long-standing partnership between Pakistan and Western powers, particularly in the context of the Cold War and the post-9/11 ‘War on Terror’. More importantly, Asif’s statements underscore how deeply entangled Pakistan became in conflicts that were not of its own making, often with devastating domestic consequences.

Pakistan’s alignment with the West in backing Islamist insurgents dates back to the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s. At the time, the United States, via the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), worked closely with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to funnel weapons, training, and funds to Afghan mujahideen fighters resisting the Soviet invasion. The strategy was effective in bleeding the Soviet military, but it planted the seeds for the rise of militant Islamist movements, including the Taliban and........

© Blitz