Pak Army's role in deadly 2002 Karachi terrorist attack continues to haunt France

Karachi [Pakistan], June 16 : Even after 19 years after the heinous killings of 11 French nationals in Karachi in May 2002, which exposed Pakistan's image as a terror sponsor, continues to haunt France as the families of the victims grieve year after year.
Writing for The Times of Israel, Fabien Baussert writes that the Karachi attack was most compelling proof of Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism and terrorist groups as a state policy, a fact which the world deliberately ignored at great cost to global peace and order.
The French citizens were working on a French-Pakistan submarine project in Karachi when they were targeted by terrorists sponsored by military generals and politicians in Pakistan, who were reportedly angry at not receiving the bribes they were promised.
French investigators were subsequently able to discover clear evidence of the Inter-Services Intelligence's (ISI) direct involvement in the bombing, despite Pakistan labelling the suicide bombing as an al Qaeda attack.
Baussert wrote for The Times of Israel that it is now becoming clear to the world that Pakistan, under the ruse of supporting the global war on terrorism, was in fact creating a rogue state within a state which used terrorist groups to punish own citizens, create violence and mayhem in the immediate neighbourhood and blackmail the international community.
"In France, the attack ruined many young and old dreams, destroyed a dozen families, and over the years, kept the wound alive and searingly painful for the whole of France. Even nineteen years after the incident, there is no closure for the families," he said in his opinion piece.
Furthermore, not a single person till date had been charged with murder in the case and the two 'terrorists' arrested and tried by Pakistan turn out to be fraud, following which a local high court freed the accused due to lack of any evidence.
Meanwhile, a few tenacious investigators discovered that the attack was masterminded by a group of Pakistani military officials, arms merchants and the political leadership in France over commissions promised for the submarine deal.
"The extent to which Pakistani generals and their allies could go to fill their pockets was astounding and almost unbelievable. It was the time the world was still slowly recovering from the cataclysmic shock of the 9/11 attack," Baussert wrote for The Times of Israel.
The Express Tribune in 2010 wrote that: "'On the home front, some things are obvious. An attack of this nature could take place only with the involvement of the military and the agencies. No one else is capable of enacting it. This is all the more true as it took place during the height of power of a military regime. As we have become accustomed to hearing at every turn, the name of the president has been mentioned. But it is questionable quite what part he could have played in a sophisticatedly designed terrorist operation while in exile and with no known power within the country."
Eventually, a report by a French newspaper which published the story of the French investigations carried out by Judge Marc Trevidic into the attack, said the role of Pakistan's secret services (ISI) is "no longer in doubt" and linked the case with the brutal murder of American Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl in January 2002.
Meanwhile, for the past few months, relations between France and Pakistan have soured. This sudden Pakistani animosity has taken French officials by surprise.
Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron's top advisor, Emmanuel Bonne on Thursday said that the relations between France and Pakistan are at a 'historic low' amid a spat of terror attacks in the former nation.
"During this crisis, after the campaign against us, our relations with Pakistan probably are at a historic low. This is not exactly what we want, we assume it because our priorities and language are clear," he said during an event.