Take Action Against TTP Instead of Making Irresponsible Statements, Islamabad Raps Taliban
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry dismissed Taliban's claim about ISIS activities in Pakistani territory and termed the statement as irresponsible on Thursday.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry dismissed Taliban's claim about ISIS activities in Pakistani territory and termed the statement as irresponsible on Thursday.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Pakistan foreign ministry's spokesperson, stated that the Taliban should take effective action against terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan instead of making such irresponsible claims.
Recently, Pakistan and the Taliban have exchanged mutual accusations of supporting militant groups.
On Tuesday, the Pakistani army announced that a suicide attack targeting five Chinese engineers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was planned by an Afghan.
However, the Taliban's defence ministry spokesperson, Enayatullah Khwarizmi, in a statement on Wednesday called the Pakistani army's claim as "irresponsible and far from reality," attributing it to the "weakness of Pakistan's security organs”.
In this statement, Khwarizmi for the first time accused the Pakistani government of supporting ISIS, stating that "ISIS has entered Afghanistan from Pakistani soil and has been using Pakistani soil against us”.
However, on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan refuted the Taliban’s claim calling it baseless and irresponsible.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch reiterated Pakistan's position, stating that there is sufficient evidence linking recent terrorist incidents in Pakistan to the presence of quasi-militants in Afghanistan.
She added, "We have found evidence indicating that the attack in Besham [on the Chinese engineers] is linked to terrorists currently living in Afghanistan."
Baloch reiterated the Pakistani army's statements, saying that the planning of this terrorist attack took place in Afghanistan, and the terrorists and their facilitators were controlled from Afghanistan.
She once again urged the Taliban to take effective action against terrorist groups.
Following the increase in insecurity in Pakistan, the country has repeatedly accused the Taliban of harbouring militant groups, while the Taliban has consistently denied these allegations.
Earlier, Pakistan's special representative highlighted a 65% increase in Pakistani Taliban attacks and a 500% increase in suicide attacks in the country, stating that "Afghan citizens" are involved in many of the suicide attacks in Pakistan.
