Islamabad : Pakistan has once again expressed concern over the active presence of extremist groups in Afghanistan and called on the Afghan Taliban to take effective action against these elements through sustainable and verifiable measures. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Asim Iftikhar expressed these views after Pakistan voted in favor of the resolution, under which the term of the Monitoring Team on the Taliban Sanctions Regime established in 1988 has been extended by 12 months.
Asim Iftikhar welcomed the unanimous adoption of the resolution, saying that it is “both timely and necessary.” According to the Permanent Representative: “Pakistan is deeply concerned about the active presence of terrorist groups on Afghan soil, including the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan), BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army) and Majeed Brigade, ISIS-Khorasan and Al-Qaeda. These groups have been responsible for some of the most heinous terrorist attacks and hostage-taking incidents against Pakistan. Referring to the deaths of a total of 80 innocent Pakistanis in the BLA attacks in different areas of Balochistan and ISIS-K attacks on a mosque in Islamabad in February this year, he said: “Once again, Afghan soil was used to plan and execute these attacks.” Asim Iftikhar said: “We reiterate our demand that Afghan soil should not be used for terrorism against neighboring countries and steps should be taken to prevent external subversive elements from taking advantage of the situation.” He also called on the Afghan Taliban to “prevent terrorist groups from taking such actions without hindrance and to take effective action against terrorism by fulfilling their counter-terrorism responsibilities through sustainable and verifiable measures, so that the interests of lasting peace and security can be protected.” The Pakistani delegate added: “It is for the Taliban to decide which path they want to take for Afghanistan.
The path of isolation or the path of peace and prosperity that is adopted as a responsible member of the international community. In Pakistan, claims have been made by the government about the involvement of Afghan militants in the operations of banned organizations, but now the leaders of two banned organizations have issued instructions to their fighters not to include Afghan citizens in their operations. These instructions were issued to their followers in an audio message by Hafiz Gul Bahadur and in a video message by Sarbakuf Mohmand.
The statements of the leaders of these two Taliban organizations have been issued for about a week. The first statement was issued by Hafiz Gul Bahadur on January 1, while the second message was issued by Sarbakuf Mohmand on January 6. Hafiz Gul Bahadur is the head of his own group of the banned TTP, while Sarbakuf Mohmand is the head of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and is also part of the banned TTP. The militant leaders, in their messages in Pashto, first presented evidence of their survival and in these recordings they also mentioned the dates when these statements were recorded.
Hafiz Gul Bahadur has released his audio message in the Waziri language. Since Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s group does not have a media wing, this message has been sent by him to his followers and then shared on their social media pages. These statements by militant figures have come at a time when Afghan clerics issued a joint statement last month, saying that Afghan soil should not be used against any other country. The statement made it clear that anyone who uses Afghan soil to carry out military operations outside the country will be considered an ‘insurgent’. Government officials and security officials in Pakistan have repeatedly identified those killed in clashes with militants as Afghans and have claimed that Afghan soil is being used for violent incidents.
