ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Sunday said that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States not Pakistan created the Haqqani network and trained its members.

Talking to media representatives at a ceremony here, Malik said that the Haqqani network was present in Afghanistan and those claiming otherwise should provide evidence of its presence in Pakistan.

“We will fight the terrorists as our forces are capable of handling them and countering any challenge,” the minister said.

He said Pakistan never blamed the CIA or Afghanistan directly over various attacks in Mohmand Agency or other areas.

Malik stressed for a strong immigration system at the Pak-Afghan border and urged the international community not to forget the sacrifices of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.

“Pakistan has so far suffered a loss of $ 68 billion in fighting terrorism,” he added.

He said that the on-going operation in Karachi was successful because of coordination among Rangers, Police and Frontier Constabularly.

He told the media that Islamabad Police had foiled a bid to smuggle a huge cache of heavy arms including six mini machine guns, 14 Kalashnikovs from a vehicle near Motorway Interchange.

Earlier, the IGP Islamabad briefed the minister about the performance of Islamabad Police and efforts in curbing criminal activities.