ISLAMABAD: Senior Taliban leader Suhail Shaheen on Sunday categorically denied that the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants are in Afghanistan, adding that banned outfit is present in Pakistan’s tribal areas and hence Islamabad’s responsibility, “not ours.”

Since the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the emboldened TTP have carried out deadly attacks against Pakistan’s security forces and civilians. Islamabad has repeatedly asked the interim Afghan government led by the Taliban to rein in the TTP militants and take action against the group. Pakistan alleges that the TTP uses Afghan soil to carry out attacks against Pakistan. Senior Pakistani officials have threatened cross-border action to take out alleged TTP strongholds in Afghanistan, souring relations further between the two countries. 

“The TTP is not in Afghanistan, as I said we have commitment for that, to not allow anyone to use the soil of Afghanistan [for militancy],” Shaheen, speaking on the latest edition of Arab News “Frankly Speaking” current-affairs talk show, said. “They are inside Pakistan, in the tribal areas. So, inside Pakistan, that is their responsibility, not ours.”

Another bone of contention between Pakistan and Afghanistan is the Durand Line, a 2,640-kilometer (1,640-mile) demarcation created while the British ruled the sub-continent. From the time Pakistan gained its independence in 1947 till today, the line serves as a border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. While Pakistan says the Durand Line is the official border between the two states, Afghanistan has historically rejected the same. 

“It is not called a border, it is called a line,” Shaheen, who also serves as Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the UN, responded when asked whether he recognizes the Durand Line as a border between the two states. “So, that is enough to say what is its status.”

When asked about Afghanistan’s relationship with Pakistani security forces, the senior Taliban leader said his country maintains relationships with countries, not security forces. 

“Our policy is for peaceful coexistence and positive relations with neighbors and other countries,” Shaheen explained. “Now, this is our policy and position. It is up to them [Pakistan], you ask them what is their policy. If they want the same, that’s a good thing, I think. Good for the region, good for the neighboring countries, for Afghanistan, good for all of us.”

Pakistan faces the challenge of a resurgent TTP while its economy is in a tailspin, with its foreign exchange reserves drained, currency significantly weakened and masses reeling from unprecedented inflation. 

The TTP was at its strongest in the 2000s and took control of parts of what is now Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2007, imposing a strict brand of Shariah or Islamic law. During that time, militants unleashed a reign of terror, killing and beheading politicians, singers, soldiers and opponents. They banned female education and destroyed almost 200 girls’ schools.

They were ousted two years later in a major military operation. However, the group has been regaining strength since last year, after a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban and the state broke down.