New delhi , Abhinandan Mishra” s reaction on Pakistan ministers accusations . He said, My report was based on the statement made by former Taliban commander Ehsanullah Ehsan, who by multiple independent, local, published accounts, has been very close to the Pakistan army and its intelligence agency, the ISI. This is also evident from the fact that after he ‘surrendered’ he was kept in an army safe house for more than 2 and a half years before he escaped.
He had shared his recent statement publicly on his Facebook profile. I also verified through common sources that Ehsan has indeed written about an imminent ISIS attack on the New Zealand team. I also confirmed the possibility of an ISIS executed attack on the cricket team through independent sources in Pakistan and in Afghanistan.
Following this, I reached out to the International Cricket Council and New Zealand Cricket for their response on the claims made by Ehsan, a former prominent Taliban leader with a history of close ties with the Pakistan army. The response that I received from New Zealand cricket was duly incorporated in the story. I understand that after the press conference done by the Pakistan Interior minister and Information minister on Wednesday afternoon in Islamabad, Ehsanullah Ehsan has issued an audio recording reiterating that he had made the statement through his Facebook profile and that he did this for the ‘protection of New Zealand cricketers’.
It is in public domain that the New Zealand cricket team landed in Pakistan on 10 September, more than 20 days after my article was published. Hence , it is clear that the New Zealand cricket team took the decision to not play in Pakistan after spending almost a week there, not after reading my article.
As for the claims made by the Pakistan interior and information ministers that I have ‘close ties’ with Afghanistan vice president Amrullah Saleh, all I can say is that I know him in a professional capacity, just like any other journalist would know him.