THE Foreign Office on Sunday “strongly condemned” the use of Afghan soil by terrorists to carry out activities in Pakistan and urged the Afghan government to take stern action against such elements “in the interest of peace and progress of the two brotherly countries”.
The statement comes as elements of banned terrorist groups in the border region, including proscribed TTP, have continued to attack Pakistan’s border security posts, resulting in the martyrdom of several Pakistani troops including seven in North Waziristan district on April 14.
Pakistan has repeatedly reaffirmed its respect for Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and that is why it always brought all provocations and attacks from across the border to the knowledge of those at the helm of affairs in Kabul.
Pakistan took up the issue for umpteen times with the then Ashraf Ghani regime but it closed its eyes to the presence of anti-Pakistan terrorist outfits in the border areas that were then pampered by Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies.
As the Afghan Government never moved firmly against these elements, Pakistan was forced to initiate the costly project of border management despite paucity of resources.
However, strangely enough the new Government in Kabul is also objecting to this project of vital significance that has the potential to take care of complaints about cross border illegal movement.
The Afghan Government is also accusing Pakistan of carrying out aerial attacks inside Afghan territory but is not willing to offer any satisfactory response to the presence of TTP elements on its soil despite assurances that Afghan soil would not be allowed to be used against any other country.
At the instance of the Taliban, Pakistan started a dialogue process with TTP but the banned outfit came up with demands that cannot be accepted by any sovereign country.
The continued presence of TTP on Afghan soil and its anti-Pakistan activities need to be viewed seriously by the Kabul Government as these have the potential to cause dents in the smooth bilateral relationship.
