Pakistan’s defence minister criticises Afghanistan for lack of action against militants | World news

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has sharply criticized the Afghan Taliban-led government in Kabul for failing to take action against insurgents along the Pakistan-Afghan border despite repeated calls from Islamabad.

Asif made the remarks in an interview with BBC Urdu on Saturday, saying that Pakistan had even offered to provide Rs 10 billion to push the insurgents towards the western border.

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“Pakistan hopes for the cooperation of the Afghan government, but the government is not ready to take action against the militants,” Asif was quoted as saying by Geo News.

Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Afghan interim government to prevent the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorist groups from using its territory against the country, a claim Kabul denies.

Asif said the government had even offered to provide Rs 10 billion to relocate the militants to the western border areas, but there were fears that the militants could return to the Pakistani border from there.

In an interview with Voice of America last week, Asif said that Pakistan may target terrorist hideouts across the border in Afghanistan as part of Operation Azm-e-Istehkam. He had also rejected the possibility of negotiations with the TTP.

In March, Pakistani Air Force jets carried out air strikes against terrorists in the border regions of Khost and Paktika in the neighboring country.

Shortly after the attack, Asif said that Pakistan wanted to make it clear to the Afghan transitional government in Kabul that things could not continue like this.

Islamabad’s move came after a deadly attack on Pakistani forces that killed seven soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel and a captain.

Since the Taliban took over the government in Kabul in 2021, there has been an increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan, dashing hopes in Islamabad that a friendly government in Afghanistan would help combat militancy.

According to an annual security report by the think tank Centre for Research and Security Studies, there were 1,524 violent deaths and 1,463 injuries in 789 terrorist attacks and counter-terror operations in Pakistan in 2023, a six-year record.