Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said a false campaign linked Pakistan to the Bondi Beach shooting in Australia. He said hostile countries launched the misinformation soon after the tragic attack. Tarar firmly rejected the claims as false and misleading.
Addressing a media briefing in Islamabad, Tarar said some outlets were quick to name Pakistan without evidence. He said there was no verification, documentation, or credible source behind the claims. He added that such reporting violated basic journalistic standards.
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Later investigations confirmed the attackers were a father and son. Tarar said the father was from India, while the son was born in Australia. He noted that a Pakistan-origin man living in Sydney was wrongly identified in the early reports.
Tarar said the misinformation campaign was deliberately pushed on social and electronic media. He claimed it was widely circulated in India and Israel. He expressed regret that even well-known media organisations repeated the false narrative.
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The minister said Pakistan has long stood on the frontline against terrorism. He recalled the 2014 Army Public School attack that killed 147 people, including 132 children. Tarar said Pakistan’s sacrifices make such false accusations deeply painful and unacceptable.