Rattled by the Taliban regime’s growing diplomatic engagement with India, Pakistan on Friday accused New Delhi of using Afghanistan as a base of operation for terrorism on its soil.
People carry posters showing the pictures of chief of army staff of Pakistan Asim Munir, (R) along with Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of Inter-Service Public Relations wing of Pakistan Armed Forces. (REUTERS FILE)
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general Lt General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry made the allegation during a press conference in Peshawar, where he outlined Pakistan’s worsening security situation, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The comments came on a day Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with external affairs minister S Jaishankar, the first high-level engagement between India and the Taliban since the regime took power in 2021.
Chaudhry claimed that “Indian proxies” were operating from Afghan territory to target Pakistan, adding that Islamabad had shared “proof and evidence” of such activities with Kabul.
“Pakistan has strong evidence of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) terror activities from Afghanistan. The Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa (KP) government must protect its citizens instead of begging Afghanistan for security. Indian proxies are working in Afghanistan and using Afghan soil for terrorism,” News18 quoted Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry as saying.
Pakistan accuses regional big power adversary India of supporting the TTP, through Afghanistan. India has denied such accusations, terming them “baseless”.
The TTP has been fighting to overthrow the Islamabad government and replace it with a strict Islamic-led system of governance. It has had a close relationship with the Afghan Taliban, which inspired the establishment of the TTP.
“The TTP has the support of the Afghan Taliban, and non-state actors are fuelling terrorism in Pakistan. No politician or politics is above the state. If someone thinks he/she is above, then it will not be acceptable. No more status quo — facilitators of terrorists will not be spared. The failure to enforce the National Action Plan is enabling a surge in terrorism,” he added.
The ISPR DG’s comments come even as the Taliban foreign minister, while meeting with S Jaishankar, reiterated an assurance that no one will be allowed to use Afghanistan’s soil to target other countries.
Muttaqi’s remarks at a news conference with a small group of Indian journalists were aimed at pushing the Taliban’s pitch for formal recognition of its regime in Kabul – which has so far been accepted only by Russia – and at addressing India’s long-standing concerns about Afghan territory being used by terrorist groups to launch attacks.
Muttaqi repeated an assurance he made at the meeting with Jaishankar – that Afghanistan is committed to a policy of not allowing its territory to be used to “threaten or harm others”. He dismissed a question about the presence of members of the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Afghanistan, saying “not even one is present”.
“Not even one inch of soil is controlled by anyone other than the Islamic Emirate. These groups and tanzeems are not present in Afghanistan, they have left Afghanistan in these four years. We finished those against whom we conducted operations,” he said.
His trip resulted in an announcement by India on Friday that it would upgrade ties with the Taliban administration – giving a boost to the diplomatically isolated group – by reopening its embassy in Kabul shut since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
The Taliban government of Afghanistan also accused Pakistan of carrying out airstrikes on its territory and warned of “consequences” as Islamabad said it was taking action against militants.
The Taliban administration blamed Pakistan for airstrikes in Kabul, the capital, late on Thursday and in the eastern province of Paktika around midnight.
Islamabad has said its patience with Kabul is running out, without acknowledging or denying carrying out the airstrikes.
Chaudhry, the Pakistani military spokesman, “noted” the reports of the strikes.
Pakistani security forces, acting on intelligence, killed 30 militants in multiple raids on Pakistani Taliban hideouts in the country’s northwestern region, the military said on Friday.
The raids came after insurgents this week ambushed a security convoy, killing 11 soldiers. A group of Pakistani Taliban also attacked a police facility in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan on Friday night, and multiple blasts were heard, police said.
The raids were conducted in Orakzai, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where a military convoy came under attack Wednesday, the military said in a statement. The ambush “martyred” 11 soldiers, including two senior officers, the statement said.
In a brief statement on Wednesday, the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the convoy ambush in Orakzai and other areas.
(With inputs from AP, Reuters)