ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief General Syed Asim Munir on Monday expressed concerns over the “liberty of action” banned outfits enjoy in Afghanistan, warning that the involvement of Afghan nationals in militant activities in Pakistan is detrimental to regional peace and security.
The army chief’s statement follows a surge in militant activities in Pakistan, particularly the July 30 suicide bomb blast in the northwestern district of Bajaur which killed over 40 people. Following the attack, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif alleged that militants behind a spate of suicide attacks in Pakistan were being helped by Afghan citizens, a charge denied by the interim government in Afghanistan.
Munir visited the historic Fort Balasar in Peshawar to meet the tribal leaders of the newly merged districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Munir paid tribute to the people of the tribal areas and acknowledged their support for Pakistan’s security forces in defeating militancy.
“Pakistan has concerns over sanctuaries available to banned outfits and liberty of action they enjoy on Afghan soil,” Munir said, according to a statement by Pakistan Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
“Pakistan will spare no effort to dismantle terrorist networks and protect its citizens at all costs.”
The tribal elders assured Pakistan’s army chief that the TTP and its ideology would never be acceptable to them, adding that they would continue to stand with the state, the ISPR said.
“Terrorism has no place in Pakistan and the involvement of Afghan nationals in terrorist incidents in Pakistan is detrimental to regional peace, stability and deviation from the Doha Peace Agreement by the interim Afghan Government,” Munir said.
He said Pakistan is successfully countering terrorism to enable a stable and peaceful environment that promotes socioeconomic development in the country.
“The surge in Terrorism in recent past is a futile effort on the part of terrorists to get the talks re-initiated,” he said, adding that militants only had one option: to surrender before the writ of the state.
Pakistan has seen a dramatic rise in attacks on its western border regions ever since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in August 2021 and a fragile truce between the state and the Pakistani Taliban broke down in November 2022. Islamabad’s repeated allegations of militants using sanctuaries in Afghanistan to launch attacks against Pakistan has strained its ties with Kabul.
Afghan officials insist the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants operate from Pakistan’s tribal areas.