Reject insinuation by India to link Pulwama attack to Pak without investigation: Pakistan government

Pakistan said on Thursday that the terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district is "a matter of grave concern" even as it strongly rejected Indian media and government's allegations of the country's link to the strike "without" probe.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district on Thursday, killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded. 

The attack in Pulwama in Kashmir is "a matter of grave concern", the Pakistan government said in a statement.

Asserting that Pakistan has "always condemned acts of violence" anywhere in the world, it said, "We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations." 

Meanwhile, India slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.

India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan. 

The Indian government condemns in the strongest possible terms the cowardly terrorist attack on India's brave security forces in Pulwama, the ministry of external affairs said in a statement.

This heinous and despicable act has been perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation proscribed by the United Nations and other countries, it said.

This terror group is led by the international terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by the Pakistani government to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in territories under Pakistan's control and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere with impunity, the MEA said.