Pakistan has criticized Kabul for “failing” to confront the threat presented to the area and reaffirmed its commitment to take “all necessary measures” to defend the nation from terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan.
Frequent border clashes and Islamabad’s repeated demands that Kabul intervene against the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for using Afghan territory to launch operations in Pakistan have soured relations between the two countries. Kabul refutes the claims.
“Pakistan will continue to take all necessary measures to eliminate the terrorist threats to our national security in accordance with our right to self-defense under international law,” said Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, during yesterday’s UN Security Council (UNSC) briefing on Afghanistan in New York.
According to him, the Kabul government has “failed to address the threat posed to the region and beyond by other terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda, the TTP, and Baloch terrorists, including the Majeed Brigade, which is present in Afghanistan, and the BLA (so-called Baluchistan Liberation Army).” The envoy emphasized, “The TTP is the largest designated terrorist organization operating from Afghanistan, with 6,000 fighters.”
The ambassador reaffirmed his warning from the previous year, saying the outlawed group was “perceived as enjoying Kabul’s patronage” and was quickly becoming an umbrella organization for local terrorist groups.
Pakistan possessed proof against Kabul officials indicating they “not only tolerated but are complicit in the conduct of TTP’s terrorist cross-border attacks,” he added.
Akram added that the Majeed Brigade and the BLA, two other terrorist organizations operating in Afghanistan, were working with the TTP in an effort to sabotage Pakistan’s relations with China.
The ambassador reportedly made allusion to India when he stated, “The TTP also receives external support and financing from our principal adversary.”
Akram went on to say: “Pakistan has suffered from the several crises that Afghanistan has endured over the last four decades, including housing millions of Afghan refugees who have been contaminated by its extremist organizations and the influx of weapons and drugs.
In reference to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, he stated, “Pakistan continuously promoted engagement and sought to broker an inclusive peace in the 20-year conflict, which ended in 2021.”
The envoy also discussed Afghanistan’s limitations on women and girls during his speech, claiming that they were also in opposition to Islam. “Another self-inflicted injury is the human rights situation in Afghanistan,” he stated.
The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team’s 35th report, which was presented to the UNSC last month, claimed that the Afghan Taliban’s ongoing backing of the TTP was contributing to the group’s increasing attacks in Pakistan.
The UN assessment stated that the “status and strength of TTP in Afghanistan had not changed” and that the “scale of outfit’s attacks in Pakistan has increased significantly.”
