QUETTA: Balochistan’s interim information minister, Jan Achakzai, on Friday said militants from neighboring Afghanistan wanted to target tribesmen protesting against Pakistan’s new visa policy for almost a month, while urging the Taliban administration in Kabul to hand over such elements to his country.

Pakistani officials have frequently blamed the proscribed militant network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), for a surge in militant attacks in different parts of the country in recent months. The TTP leadership is said to be based in Afghanistan, prompting Pakistani authorities to urge the Afghan government not to allow armed factions to use its soil to launch attacks against other countries.

Earlier this month, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said the Afghan authorities were not doing enough to curb the TTP and had even facilitated some deadly cross-border attacks.

Addressing a news conference in Quetta, Achakzai mentioned that militants in Pakistan’s neighborhood were planning to target protesting tribesmen in the border town of Chaman, located right next to Afghanistan.

“According to the latest intelligence report, militants have planned a terrorist activity against Pakistan while using the Afghan soil adjacent to Balochistan’s Zhob district,” he told journalists at the Quetta Press Club. “The plan is to target protesters participating in the Chaman sit-in and blame the Pakistani security forces for the attack.”

Thousands of people have camped near the Pak-Afghan Chaman border since last month to demonstrate against Islamabad’s decision to restrict movement across the porous border for individuals lacking proper travel documents.

Pakistan has also launched a deportation drive against unregistered foreigners, mostly Afghans, many of whom have lived in the country for a considerable period.

The provincial minister said the alleged plan had been hatched to drive a wedge between the people and security forces of Pakistan.

“The foreign office has shared the intelligence report with the Afghan interim government in a dossier,” he continued.

Achakzai reiterated that despite Pakistan sharing extensive information since the beginning of the year, the Afghan government had not taken any action against the TTP.

“We appeal to the interim Afghan government to hand over TTP militants to the Pakistani government and eliminate terrorist sanctuaries to curb extremist violence,” he added.