File photo. Farooq Naeem—AFP
Afghanistan’s soil is continuing to be used against Pakistan despite an agreement from the Taliban to not allow this, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif alleged on Monday, as he urged Kabul to fulfill the terms of the deal it had inked in Doha.
In an interview with Geo News’ Shahzeb Khanzada, he said the interim government of Afghanistan had committed to Islamabad that it would no longer permit its territory to be used against Pakistan. However, he said, this was not reflected in reality. “The Pakistani government is in constant touch with Afghanistan in connection with border violations,” he added.
Last week, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had suggested to Express News that Pakistan would consider strikes on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts in Afghanistan if the Taliban failed to act against the terrorist group. In response, the Afghan Defense Ministry had described his comments as “provocative,” adding that there was “evidence” to suggest the TTP was actually based in Pakistan. Stressing that Afghanistan was “ready to defend its territorial integrity and independence,” it had urged for a resolution of all disputes through dialogue.
Discussing the government’s attempt to negotiate peace with the TTP, Asif said former Army chief General (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former spymaster General (retd.) Faiz Hameed had both briefed the National Assembly on the negotiations. However, he regretted, this did not produce any positive results. Noting that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa accounted for 58 percent of all terrorist incidents in Pakistan—with Balochistan comprising a bulk of the remainder—he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its chief Imran Khan needed to stop their policy of appeasement and move forward with national consensus.
“We will knock at every door to achieve unanimity on national issues,” he emphasized, adding that Pakistan was facing significant challenges on both economic and terror fronts that needed unity to resolve.