Kabul [Afghanistan]: Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar on Friday urged the Taliban to address the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) resurgence, reported Tolo News.
She said that the engagement with the interim government in Afghanistan is “preconditioned” on the issue of TTP. “The engagement with the Afghan interim government which is currently in Afghanistan is preconditioned on this issue (TTP). They have told us that they believe the blood of Pakistanis should not be poured but this has only been at a level of speech. They should prove some of the things because we have the ability to counter the TTP,” she said.
Since the talks with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke down in November last year, the outfit has intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in KP and areas bordering Afghanistan.
Khar’s statements come after the deputy spokesman of the Taliban, Bilal Karimi, denied the presence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan, saying that there is no threat from Afghan soil to any country, reported Tolo News.
“It will not allow any country or element to damage other countries from the Afghan soil. Such elements and groups don’t exist on our soil,” Karimi said.
Over the past few months, the law and order situation in the country has worsened, with terrorist groups executing attacks with near impunity across the country, reported Dawn.
Earlier this month, experts at a discussion warned that the TTP was forging a nexus with Baloch separatists and local militant groups based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan — a development that will likely exacerbate the already precarious security situation in the country.
On April 1, four soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack along the Pak-Iran border in the Jalgai sector of Balochistan’s Kech district, reported Dawn.
On March 10, five terrorists were killed by security forces in intelligence-based operations (IBO) carried out in North and South Waziristan. On March 8, six terrorists were killed by security forces in an IBO in North Waziristan’s Datta Khel general area.
According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank, January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months since July 2018, as 134 people lost their lives — a 139 per cent spike — and 254 received injuries in at least 44 militant attacks across the country, reported Dawn.
Political analysts said that the interim government can play an important role in resolving the challenges of Pakistan.
“TTP is considered a power in Pakistan. Also, the politics of Pakistan and Afghanistan are not centred on transparent and mutual interest, thus, the Islamic Emirate may be less interested in this regard,” said Sayed Muqdam Ameen, a political analyst.
