ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday that his country had made a firm decision to root out “terrorism” from its soil whether or not Afghanistan cooperated with it in this regard, amid a deepening row between the two countries over the alleged presence of militant groups on Afghan soil.
Asif’s statement came in response to Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid’s comments to BBC Pashto in which he said the Afghan Taliban had signed the Doha agreement with the United States and they were not under any obligation to protect Pakistan’s interests, particularly take action against militant groups as desired by Islamabad.
In a tweet late Sunday, the Pakistani defense minister agreed with a fellow politician’s remarks that Mujahid’s comments meant the Doha agreement bound Taliban to rein in only some militants and not all, describing them as a “fair interpretation” of Kabul’s statement.
“Irrespective of Afghanistan’s stance, Pakistan stands resolute in uprooting terrorism from its soil, whatever the source,” Asif said. “This is regardless of whether or not Kabul has the will to reign in militants from within its borders.”
The Doha peace agreement, signed between the Afghan Taliban and the US in 2020, reaffirms Kabul’s commitment “not to cooperate with or permit international terrorist groups or individuals to recruit, train, raise funds (including through the production or distribution of narcotics), transit Afghanistan or misuse its internationally recognized travel documents, or conduct other support activities in Afghanistan, and will not host them.”
However, Pakistani and Afghan officials have been locked in a war of words since a major attack in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan, last week killed nine Pakistani soldiers.
Following the attack, both Asif and the Pakistani military expressed concerns over the presence of militant “safe havens” in Afghanistan, threatening an “effective response” to them.
The statements come amid an uptick in militant violence in Pakistan’s northwestern and southwestern regions that border Afghanistan.
The attacks have increased particularly after the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), called off a fragile, months-long truce with the central government in Islamabad in November last year. The militant group, which is said to have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.
Islamabad says it has time and again raised the matter of TTP with the Afghan Taliban authorities, but there has been a lukewarm response from Kabul.
