ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Saturday “remnants of groups” that survived the defeat of Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies at the hands of the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan were trying to create “atmosphere of terror” in his country.
Pakistan has witnessed a series of small-scale attacks targeting policemen, security forces and civilians in recent weeks. One such incident in Islamabad in which a policeman was killed and two others injured was claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a proscribed militant group, after the breakdown of its talks with the government in December.
The minister said militant attacks in the country had registered an increase of 35-38 percent since August last year, but these incidents “cannot shatter our morale.”
“Small remnant of groups left over after the Taliban defeated the NDS [National Directorate of Security], RAW [Research and Analysis Wing], and 42 international forces that were fighting in Afghanistan are trying to create an environment of terror in Pakistan,” he told a media briefing in Islamabad.
He added the government had its “doors open” for peace talks with the TTP, if the proscribed group accepted Pakistan’s law and constitution.
The TTP is a separate movement from the Afghan Taliban and has fought for years to overthrow the government in Islamabad and rule with its own brand of Islamic Shariah law.
Last month, the group declared an end to a month-long cease-fire arranged with the aid of the Afghan Taliban, accusing the Pakistan government of breaching terms including a prisoner release agreement and the formation of negotiating committees.
“Our doors are open [for talks] if they [TTP] want to come under our law, constitution and flag,” Ahmed said at a news conference in Islamabad on Saturday.
“If they [TTP] will fight, we will fight them back,” he declared.
Pakistan’s interior ministry on Saturday requested all law enforcement agencies and provincial authorities through a notification to exercise “extreme vigilance” and be alert to deal with any untoward situation. The notification for additional security measures was issued “in view of recent terrorist attack in Anarkali Bazar, Lahore, and threat posed by activities of anti-state elements.”
At least two people were killed and 26 others injured in Lahore’s famous Anarkali bazaar, a crowded neighborhood comprising small shops packed into narrow streets, on Thursday. A newly formed militant group, the Baloch Nationalist Army, claimed responsibility for the blast in a Twitter post. The group was formed earlier this month after the merger of two small separatist groups — the Balochistan Republican Army and the United Baloch Army.
Ahmed said the Afghan Taliban “were talking to the TTP, but their conditions and demands were not acceptable for being too harsh.”
He accused the Pakistani Taliban of violating the truce, but was quick to welcome the Afghan Taliban’s role in peace talks.
The interior minister maintained if some small group wanted to target Pakistan, they would be “crushed.”