United Nations (TDI): Pakistan has reiterated that it will continue to take “all necessary measures” to protect the country from terrorist groups in Afghanistan, criticizing Kabul for “failing” to address the threat posed to the region.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been strained due to frequent border skirmishes and Islamabad repeatedly demanding that Kabul take action against the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for using Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan. Kabul denies the allegations.
Speaking during the UN Security Council briefing on Afghanistan in New York on Monday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Munir Akram said that Pakistan will continue to take all necessary actions to eliminate the terrorist threats to its national security in accordance with our right to self-defence under international law and in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UNSC.
He stressed that the Kabul authorities had “failed to address the threat posed to the region and beyond by other terrorist organizations, such as Al-Qaeda, the TTP and Baloch terrorists, including the BLA (so-called Balochistan Liberation Army) and the Majeed Brigade, which are present in Afghanistan”.
“The TTP, with six thousand fighters, is the largest designated terrorist group operating from Afghanistan,” the envoy said.
He said that Pakistan had the evidence against Afghan authorities that they “not only tolerated but are complicit in the conduct of the group’s terrorist cross-border attacks.
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He added that the TTP was collaborating with other terrorist organizations present in Afghanistan, like the BLA and the Majeed Brigade, adding that the latter sought to destabilise Pakistan’s relations with China.
“TTP also receives foreign support and financing from our principal adversary,” Akram said in an apparent reference to India.
He further said that Pakistan has faced the adverse impacts of multiple crises Afghanistan has lived through, during the past forty years, hosting millions of Afghan refugees, infected by its extremist outfits and the inflow of arms and drugs.
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“In the 20-year war, which ended in 2021, Pakistan consistently supported engagement and tried to broker an inclusive peace,” he said, referring to the US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
