Our ally came inside our country and killed someone without informing us, said PM Khan, referring to how U.S. Navy Seals killed the 9\/11 mastermind in Abbottabad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday called slain al-Qaeda chief and 9\/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden a \u201cshaheed\u201d (martyr) and said that Islamabad faced \u201cembarrassment\u201d by taking part in America\u2019s war on terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Speaking in parliament during the budget session, Mr. Khan said the American forces entered Pakistan and killed bin Laden without informing Islamabad after which everyone started abusing his country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a country which supported the war on terror and had to face embarrassment for it. Pakistan was also openly blamed for U.S.\u2019 failure in Afghanistan,\u201d Mr. Khan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor Pakistanis across the globe, it was an embarrassing moment when the Americans came and killed Osama bin Laden at Abottabad\u2026 martyred him. The whole world started abusing us after that. Our ally came inside our country and killed someone without informing us. And, 70,000 Pakistanis died because of U.S.\u2019 war on terror,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy Seals in Pakistan\u2019s Abbottabad in May, 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Mr. Khan\u2019s remarks drew criticism from the Opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cOsama bin Laden was a terrorist and our PM called him a martyr. He was behind massacre of thousands,\u201d said Khawaja Asif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
In his address, the Prime Minister also defended his government\u2019s response to the coronavirus crisis, saying there has been no confusion or contradiction in official policies since the start of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey say again and again that there was confusion \u2026 if there was one country whose government did not have confusion, it was ours,\u201d Mr. Khan was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
People give the example of New Zealand when talking about social distancing, he said, adding that \u201cNew Zealand has social distancing already\u201d with a low population density.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI said from day one we had a dual problem; we had to save the people from corona and hunger, and those dying from poverty,\u201d he added, acknowledging that his government had to face \u201ca lot of criticism\u201d at the start and there was pressure to implement a more strict lockdown as was done by India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Reiterating the “destruction” a sweeping lockdown could cause to a country, Mr. Khan said: “India\u2019s reports are in front of the world.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan crossed 1,92,000-mark, while the death toll reached 3,903 on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Mr. Khan also said that his government has devised a plan to further highlight the Kashmir issue at the world level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n