Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday raised Pakistan’s serious concerns over the presence of more than two dozen terrorist groups inside Afghanistan and called upon the Afghan interim authorities to take concrete and verifiable action to prevent their soil from being used for terrorism against its neighboring countries, particularly Pakistan.
In his statement at the Inaugural Meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Afghanistan, the deputy prime minister/foreign minister mentioned these terrorists groups particularly the TTP, BLA, Majeed Brigade and ETIM, which were actively collaborating with Al-Qaeda and posing a grave threat to regional and international peace and security.
“Our law enforcement officials and civilians continue to make enormous sacrifices to terrorism emanating from Afghanistan. Earlier this month, 12 Pakistani soldiers were martyred in our bordering regions, while combating TTP terrorist infiltrators from Afghanistan,” he added.
The DPM/FM further said that digital platforms and social media were also being used by these terrorist groups for propaganda and incitement to violence. “This cannot be tolerated under any circumstances,” he emphasised.
For meaningful progress across all priority pillars, Dar said the Afghan interim authorities must take concrete and verifiable action to prevent their soil from being used for terrorism.
He also proposed the establishment of a working group of experts from members of this contact group to jointly put forward a practical roadmap with a series of reciprocal steps to make progress across the entire spectrum of issues faced by the brotherly country Afghanistan.
The deputy prime minister/foreign minister reiterated that Pakistan was committed to supporting all efforts for realizing the goal of a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.
“But this requires mutual respect, sincerity and demonstration of necessary political will by the Taliban authorities to help us to help themselves,” the press statement quoted him as saying.
Dar said no country desired to see normalcy and stability return to Afghanistan more than his country, Pakistan, adding their destinies were intertwined and it was imperative that they helped secure an Afghanistan ‘that is at peace with itself and its neighbours’.
The DPM/FM said the meeting came at a critical juncture for Afghanistan that had entered a phase of relative peace after nearly five decades of conflict and civil war.