Pakistan's defence minister has threatened to retaliate in kind to any Israeli nuclear strike after apparently being tricked by a fake news site into a confrontation on social media.
Khawaja Asif was responding to an invented story published on the website AWDNews and headlined: "Israeli Defense Minister: If Pakistan send ground troops into Syria on any pretext, we will destroy this country with a nuclear attack."
"Israeli def min threatens nuclear retaliation presuming pak role in Syria against Daesh (Islamic State).Israel forgets Pakistan is a Nuclear state too" the Pakistani minister tweeted Friday.
His missive prompted a clarification from Israel's Ministry of Defense, which responded to him on Saturday:
"@KhawajaMAsif The statement attributed to fmr Def Min Yaalon re Pakistan was never said," adding: "KhawajaMAsif reports referred to by the Pakistani Def Min are entirely false".
Israel has a policy of ambiguity in relation to its nuclear arsenal, neither confirming nor denying its existence, but is widely believed to be an atomic power.
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