Afghanistan to hand over wanted terrorists,PM

Islamabad(Mudassar Chuhdary)_Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has disclosed that there has been a 60 percent rise in the incidents of terrorism ever since the Afghan interim government took office in Kabul in 2021,

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, Prime Minister Kakar said Islamabad was hoping that after the installation of the interim government in Kabul there would be swift action against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “Instead terror attacks soared in Pakistan which is sending a demarche to Kabul after every fortnight,” he added.

The premier’s remarks came while responding to a question during a press conference at the PM House in Islamabad, a day after the US State Department denied leaving any equipment behind by American forces during the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

“We are aware of the reports of multiple attacks on Pakistani security forces and facilities earlier in November and we offer our condolences to the families of the victims, but I want to be very clear about this: There was no equipment left behind by American forces during the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” US State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a news briefing.

PM Kakar regretted that there was no concrete action against the terrorists by the authorities in Kabul.

The prime minister asked the Afghan government to hand over the people who are involved in terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Kakar linked the ongoing deportation drive of illegal immigrants to counter-terrorism actions. “After the establishment of the interim Afghan government in August 2021, we had a strong hope that there would be long-term peace in Afghanistan. Strict action would be taken against anti-Pakistan groups, especially the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and they would absolutely not be allowed to use Afghan soil against Pakistan. “But unfortunately, after the establishment of the interim Afghan government, there has been a 60 percent increase in terror incidents and 500 percent rise in suicide attacks in Pakistan.”

Kakar said, “In the past two years, 2,267 innocent citizens’ lives had been lost to this tragic bloodshed, for which the TTP terrorists were responsible.”

PM Kakar also demanded the interim government of Afghanistan to hand over the Pakistani nationals who were illegally residing in Afghanistan and were involved in terrorist activities against their own country. He said the government was ready to receive and accept any such illegal Pakistanis.

PM Kakar also asked the Afghan government to take action against the TTP hideouts its training centres in Afghanistan and ensure that “they must not be used against Pakistan”.

“Pakistan in last two years has lost lives of 2,867 innocent civilians, for which TTP is responsible which is operating from Afghanistan,” he said and also mentioned that 15 Afghan nationals were found involved in suicide bombings in Pakistan, while 64 Afghans got killed during their fight against the Pakistani law-enforcement agencies.

He said Afghan authorities were cognizant of these facts as Pakistan had been sharing these details with them since February this year through the fort-nightly memorandums of protest.

The monitoring team of the United Nations in its report released this July clearly highlighted that TTP centres based in Afghanistan were conducting terrorist operations against Pakistan.

Asked if Pakistan itself would take action against the TTP hideouts in Afghanistan, Kakar said, “We are hopeful that they [Afghan government] will take an action themselves, which is in their own interest and also in our interest.”

On the military equipment left behind since the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Kakar said Pakistan had been repeatedly raising concerns with the United States and the Western countries about its implications and its sale in the black market. He also pointed out that there was no clue about the ammunition that was in the possession of the Afghan military comprising 150,000 personnel, and which just “disappeared” after the US withdrawal.

Kakar said Pakistan had taken the right decision against illegal foreigners after the Afghan interim government showed no cooperation in containing the terrorists attacking Pakistan. He said sending 250,000 illegal people back to their country in a short span was “not an ordinary step and showed the sign that the policy would be implemented successfully”.

On maintaining a balance in relations with Afghanistan in the wake of actions against illegal residents, Kakar hoped that the ties would improve after the two sides settled their approach and expectations on various matters.

Kakar said the immigrant policy was not meant to target the Pakistani Pashtuns and warned that those involved in the misuse of the decision would be severely punished. Any discrimination on the basis of ethnicity would not be tolerated, he added.

On the status of Afghans who fled to Pakistan after the Taliban took over and awaited relocation to the US and Western countries under the US Special Visa Immigration (SIV) scheme, Kakar said Pakistan was in touch with the countries of their destination and had the necessary database about them. “They are on temporary and a stop-gap arrangement. We have no objection about them, but we want the countries of their destination to ensure a timeline for their relocation,” he said.

Kakar dismissed the notion that any country including the United States could “pressurize” Pakistan on this matter and said that instead the “requests” are made between the governments. He said Pakistan was ready to negotiate the relocation mechanism and would facilitate the process, however stressed that “We will not allow them to live here and they have to leave.”

Asked about reports of clandestine activities of the persons awaiting SIVs in Pakistan, Kakar said Pakistan’s intelligence agencies were vigilant and were doing their job very professionally. “They have the will and the capacity to identify and neutralize the terrorists who are determined to continue their fight against the State of Pakistan,” he added.

Kakar said Pakistan had the legal and ethical right to send back illegal foreigners and mentioned that there were 1.4 million Afghan refugees currently residing in the country who were registered via the ‘Proof of Residence’ card. He said the government registered another 0.8 million under the Afghan citizen card and the persons would not be deported.