'Second line of defence': Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif hints at deploying madrasa students in case of war

NEW DELHI: In yet another bizarre statement, Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif has claimed that if war breaks out with India, madrasa students would serve as Pakistan's second line of defence.While addressing Parliament, Asif said that students of madrasa would be deployed when needed."As far as madrasa and their students are concerned, there is no doubt that they are our second line of defence," Asif said."The youth who study there are well connected with the religion ... they can be used 100% for the city or for other needs," he addedThis comes a day after Asif deflected blame from the failure of Pakistan’s armed forces to intercept Indian drones. He claimed that Pakistani forces deliberately avoided engagement to prevent revealing strategic military positions to the enemy."The drone attack that happened yesterday was basically carried out to detect our locations. This is a technical matter which I won’t explain in detail," Asif said."And that is why they were not intercepted — so that our locations are not leaked," he added.Before this Asif had faced criticism for failing to provide credible evidence supporting his claim that Pakistan had shot down five Indian jets during India’s Operation Sindoor. When pressed for details during an interview, Asif cited "social media" as his source—prompting a sharp rebuke from a CNN anchor, who reminded him that social media was not a reliable basis for military claims."It's all over social media—on Indian social media, not on ours. The debris of these jets fell into Kashmir," Asif asserted.When further questioned about the military systems allegedly used in the downing of the aircraft, Asif sidestepped the issue by referring to Pakistan's fleet of Chinese-manufactured aircraft, including JF-17 and JF-10 jets."We have Chinese planes—JF-17 and JF-10. They are Chinese planes, but they're now assembled and manufactured in Pakistan. We have a facility near Islamabad for that. If India can buy planes from France and use them, we can buy planes from China, Russia, the United States, or the UK and use them," he said.This comes as Indian on Saturday carried out retaliatory precision strikes at identified military targets in Pakistan after Islamabad fired several high-speed missiles at Indian air bases.Border Security Force also destroyed a terrorist launch pad Sialkot's Looni after Pakistan initiated unprovoked firing on BSF posts in the Jammu Sector."After Pakistan deliberately targeted air bases, Indian armed forces took a quick and well-planned retaliatory action and targeted technical installations, command & control centres, radar sites and arms store.Pakistan military bases at Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian were targeted through air launch, precision ammunition and fighter jets," Colonel Sofiya Qureshi said at a special government briefing on Operation Sindoor.Radar site in Pasrur and aviation base in Sialkot were also targeted with precision ammunition. During these actions, India ensured minimum collateral damage and losses," she added.