Pakistan asks Afghanistan to take steps against terrorist entities

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday asked Afghanistan authorities to take “immediate and effective steps” against terrorist entities operating from their soil, ARY News reported.

Addressing a weekly press briefing Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch voiced concerns over the presence of terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan, saying that these terrorists continue to attack Pakistan and cause loss of life.

“Pakistan desires to have peaceful and friendly relations with Afghanistan. We have great sympathies with our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan who have suffered a great deal because of difficult humanitarian and security situation,” he noted.

She said Pakistan has advocated internationally that humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan must continue.

Pakistan has seen an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November.

A report released by think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said the first half of 2023 witnessed a steady and alarming rise in terror and suicide attacks, claiming the lives of 389 people across the country.

Last month, the armed forces of Pakistan also expressed “serious concerns on the safe havens and liberty of action available to” the banned TTP in Afghanistan.

The army also said that the “involvement of Afghan nationals in acts of terrorism in Pakistan is another important concern that needs to be addressed”.

“Such attacks are intolerable and would elicit an effective response from the security forces of Pakistan,” it added.

Meanwhile, FO spokesperson also expressed concerns over the situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), urging India to repeal its draconian laws and stop using the bogey of terrorism to suppress dissent in the occupied territory.

The spokesperson reiterated Pakistan’s call for a durable and sustained ceasefire in Gaza to enable supply of extensive and robust humanitarian assistance, urgently needed medical aid to the injured and shelter to those displaced by the indiscriminate and in-humane bombing by Israeli occupation forces.

“We are also deeply concerned at the escalating Israeli aggression in the West Bank,” she said, adding that the international community should take immediate and decisive steps to bring an end to Israeli campaign of terrorism against Palestinians.