Pak minister blames India after Kiwis abort tour over security threat

"This email was generated from India through a VPN showing the location of Singapore," Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told reporters in Islamabad, according to Reuters.

The Kiwis called off their first tour of Pakistan in 18 years last Friday citing a security threat. This was followed by both men and women's cricket team of England cancelling their tour.

Pakistan has been struggling to make international teams play in the country after it was shunned following a deadly terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009.

"It is not new for Pakistan to engage in baseless propaganda against India. Pakistan would do well to expend the same effort in setting its own house in order and taking credible and verifiable action against terrorism emanating from its soil and terrorists who have found safe sanctuaries there," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said in July.

Pakistan is still on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as it was judged deficient in prosecuting the top leadership of UN Security Council-designated terror groups; the list includes Lashkar-e Toiba, Jaish-e Mohammad, Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

"The international community is well aware of Pakistan's credentials when it comes to terrorism. This is acknowledged by none other than its own leadership, which continues to glorify terrorists like Osama Bin Laden as 'martyrs'," he said.

Despite Pakistan's attempts to convince the world that India was responsible for its volatile security situation, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Arden's remark that her country's national cricket team “made the right decision” exposes Pakistan's complete inability to put the affairs of its home in order and eliminate or at least tame the terrorist elements breeding on its soil.

“You will understand why we are not in a position to give further information as to the nature of the intelligence, other than to say, it was a direct threat, and it was a credible threat,” Ardern was quoted as saying Sunday.

According to New York Times, a former spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, or T.T.P., a banned terrorist group, said in a Facebook post before the scheduled New Zealand game that the team may have been targeted by a different group.

“As far as I know a global jihadi organization (IS) is looking for a big target in Pakistan,” said Ehsanullah Ehsan, citing the Islamic State terrorist group, the report stated.

New York Times said it wasn't clear whether Ehsan had knowledge of any planned attack, and his Facebook account was deleted shortly after.

It is being feared that militant groups are gaining strength once again following the Taliban's takeover of neighboring Afghanistan, after months of bloody violence.

The Taliban groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan have ideological links and have the backing of a vast network of support from religious seminaries spread across Pakistan.

With 32 attacks in August alone, and an attack earlier in September, it claimed responsibility for an ambush that left seven soldiers dead and several wounded, the Pakistani Taliban are also showing signs of making a slow comeback.

Though the government officials claim that the recent attacks have been sporadic and confined to the remote regions on the border with Afghanistan, it is unlikely to convince the other countries that their players will have a safe trip.

After the militant group, last week rebuffed an amnesty offer by Pakistan's senior government officials and declared that it would continue with its armed ways, the radical groups thriving on the country's soil pose a security threat, making visiting foreigners worried about their security.