Pakistan, US to present mutual front against terrorist groups

Washington DC, 5 January 2023 (TDI): The United States (US) State Department Spokesperson Ned Price held a daily press briefing on Wednesday.

He said that the US & Pakistan have a mutual interest in ensuring that the Taliban acts against terrorist organizations.

In this vein, Price added, “Taliban should act against Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) & al-Qaeda and don’t allow them to use the Afghan soil for their actions.”

“Terrorism remains a scourge that has taken so many Pakistani, Afghans, and other innocent lives. The United States and Pakistan do indeed have a shared interest in ensuring that the Taliban live up to the commitments.” He continued.

Talking about the inflexible attitude of the Taliban, the Spokesperson said, “The Taliban has proven itself unable or unwilling to fulfill the commitments it has made.”

“In the US-Taliban agreement, the Taliban committed to seeing to it that international terrorists would not operate freely within Afghanistan.” Price reiterated.

“The US clearly saw that the Taliban had not lived up to that commitment. We witnessed it in the operation we undertook a few months ago that eliminated the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was living in Kabul.” He noticed.

Remarks about TTP’s attack on Pakistan

He talked about the TTP’s threats against Pakistan’s top political leadership. Along these lines Price stated that the US condemns any danger of violence from any group, particularly a terrorist group like the TTP.

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“We know that the Pakistani people have suffered tremendously from terrorist attacks. The US knows that the Taliban has made commitments to curtailing the ability of international terrorists.

We continue to call on the Taliban to uphold those counter-terrorism commitments.” He said. He concluded his address by pledging the commitment of the US to work with partners to curtail terrorism.

Price added, “President Biden commits to act unilaterally if and when necessary to take out threats that potentially present a threat to the US, to our allies, and our interests.”