ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has no reason to doubt the Afghan Taliban’s assurances that they would not permit the use of Afghan soil against another country, a Pakistani military spokesman said on Monday, amid efforts by Islamabad and world capitals to persuade the Taliban not to allow the war-torn country to become a sanctuary for militants in the future.
Since the Afghan Taliban captured Kabul on August 15, Islamabad has been particularly worried about militant fighters from a separate Pakistani Taliban group, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), crossing over from Afghanistan and launching lethal attacks on its territory.
Thousands of Pakistanis have been killed in violence perpetrated by the TTP in the last two decades. The group has accepted responsibility for several high-profile attacks in Pakistan, including the 2014 attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in which 134 children were killed and an assassination attempt on activist and now Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar said on Monday Pakistan was in constant touch with the Taliban to ensure its security.
“The Taliban have reiterated on several occasions that no group or terrorist organization will be allowed to use Afghan territory for any terrorist activity against any country, including Pakistan,” he told Saudi news website Urdu News. “We have no reason to doubt their intention and so we are in constant touch with them to protect our national interests.”
Late last month, Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said the Afghan Taliban had assured Pakistan that they would not let Afghan soil to be used by the TTP.
Pakistan started fencing its border with Iran and Afghanistan in March 2017 to curb cross-border militancy.
To a question about security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Iftikhar said Pakistan was constantly improving border management and the frontier would be fully secure in the near future.
“Our goal has always been better management on this side of the border. Fencing the Pakistan-Afghan border was a major responsibility due to the outward form of the region and other difficulties,” he said.
“Despite all the difficulties, Pakistan has completed 90 percent of the fencing work on the border.”