ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday urged the Afghanistan government to rein in “terrorists” to ensure peace in the region, a day after a deadly suicide blast killed 12 people in Pakistan’s capital.
The suicide blast took place outside a court complex in Islamabad’s G-11 sector on Tuesday afternoon, killing 12 and injuring 36. Sharif blamed the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for the blast. The group subsequently denied responsibility.
The blast took place as tensions persist between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad alleges the TTP carries out attacks in Pakistan from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, a charge Kabul denies. The two countries engaged in fierce clashes that killed dozens last month before agreeing to a temporary ceasefire on Oct. 19. A third round of talks in Istanbul subsequently broke down between the two, each side blaming the other for it.
“I would like to seize this opportunity and say, ‘Come, let’s sit with sincere intentions and rein in terrorists,’” Sharif said in a message to the Afghan government while speaking in parliament.
“Make this commitment and we will support you completely so that peace can be established in this entire region, and so that Pakistan and this entire region can experience progress and prosperity.”
Sharif said “foreign hands” were involved in the Islamabad court blast and in an attack this week at a cadet college in northwestern Pakistan that killed at least three.
Pakistan’s government and the military also accuse India of funding and arming militants in the northwestern and southwestern provinces of the country. New Delhi denies the allegations and accuses Islamabad of backing separatist militants in the part of disputed Kashmir India administers. Pakistan denies this.
These mutual allegations fueled tensions earlier this year when a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April killed 22 people, mostly tourists. The incident triggered four days of cross-border shelling, drone strikes and limited air engagements between the two sides in May before a ceasefire was brokered by the United States.
