Hamid Mir blames ‘ISI within ISI’ for attack

KARACHI: Senior journalist Hamid Mir, who is currently being treated after escaping an attack on his life in Karachi last week, blamed ‘ISI within ISI’ for orchestrating the attack in an interview with BBC Urdu on Saturday. Speaking during his first interaction with the media after the attack, Geo TV’s senior anchorperson said that he has been threatened again to leave the country by same elements who he alleged were behind the attack. He said he has been told to leave Karachi and Pakistan as “it will be a long fight.” “People visit me in guise of friends but leave after conveying threatening messages of the foes,” said the senior journalist answering a question about source of the recent threats. “They say you better leave Pakistan…it’s not safe for you anymore. Only yesterday a highly responsible person came to visit me and told me that I will be attacked again.” Mir said the people who were threatening had always been a part of the country’s strong military establishment and they were conveying messages of differing nature to him. He said those who keep an eye on journalists’ movement and tape their telephone calls were behind the attack. “Only these people may know what flight Hamid Mir will take to reach Karachi. Which car will pick him up at the airport and at what time he will come out from the airport. They knew where to attack the car and chose a corner where CCTV camera wasn’t functioning,” he added. The journalist said he was pointing towards ‘ISI within IS,’ adding that a person namely “Major Wajahat” called him during a live show and despite giving the authorities all the details nothing has been done as yet. “The most worrisome fact is that Jihadist outfits attached to Taliban, which have been banned by the government, are protesting in favour of ISI,” he said. “These banned jihadist groups which are protesting against me and in favour of ISI, aren’t these ISI within ISI?” he questioned. Hamid Mir, in his official statement through his brother Amir Mir on Thursday, had held the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) responsible for orchestrating the attack. He had said the ISI officials were apparently unhappy about his famous talk show, Capital Talk, being broadcast on Mama Qadir’s long march over missing Baloch persons. Mir claimed that the intelligence agency was also unhappy of his criticism aimed at the ISI in different Capital Talk shows.