By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army said on Friday it had serious concerns about the presence and activities of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group in Afghanistan and it urged the interim Afghan government to prevent its soil from being used for terrorism against any country.
The military made the remarks during a visit by army chief General Asim Munir to Quetta Garrison in Balochistan province, where he met soldiers wounded in a recent attack on a military installation by TTP terrorists.
Nine soldiers were killed and 16 others injured in the attack on Wednesday in Zhob Cantt, about 300 kilometers north of Quetta, the provincial capital. Security forces killed five militants in a gun battle that lasted several hours.
General Munir paid tribute to the martyrs and praised the soldiers’ courage and resolve, the statement said.
The military’s media wing said the armed forces had “serious concerns” about the “safe havens and liberty of action” available to the TTP in Afghanistan.
“It is expected that the interim Afghan government would not allow the use of its soil to perpetrate terror against any country, in the real sense and in line with commitments made in the Doha agreement,” the ISPR said, referring to a deal signed between the United States and the Afghan Taliban that paved the way for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
“The involvement of Afghan nationals in acts of terrorism in Pakistan is another important concern that needs to be addressed. Such attacks are intolerable and would elicit an effective response from the security forces of Pakistan,” the ISPR added.
Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harboring militants who carry out cross-border attacks on its soil, especially in the restive regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan that border Afghanistan.
The country has also seen a surge in violence by the TTP, which ended a ceasefire with the government in November and has since claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks on security forces and civilians.
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson also urged Afghan authorities to fulfill their promises that their territory would not be used for terrorism against Pakistan. She said it was their responsibility to ensure that their land was not used against Pakistan, and Afghan authorities had accepted this responsibility on various occasions.
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