A high-level Pakistani delegation met Afghan Taliban officials on Thursday and called for “decisive action” against militants who they say have used Afghan territory to plot cross-border attacks, including a recent suicide car bombing that killed five Chinese engineers.
The meeting in Kabul came days after Islamabad said it had arrested about a dozen suspects in connection with a deadly attack on Chinese civilians in March that it said was carried out by an Afghan national with the help of his entourage, who had taken refuge in Afghanistan. The victims were working on a Chinese-financed hydroelectric project in northwest Pakistan.
Officials said Taliban Deputy Interior Minister Mohammed Foreign Minister Nabi Omari and his Pakistani counterpart Muhammad Khurram Agha led their respective delegations to the talks in the Afghan capital on Thursday.
A statement from Pakistan’s foreign ministry after the visit said the talks focused on the “terror attack” on Chinese nationals on March 26. It added that the Pakistani side shared its findings on the blast with Taliban authorities and “sought Afghanistan’s assistance in arresting the perpetrators.”
“The Afghan side agreed to examine the findings of the investigation and expressed its determination to cooperate with the Pakistani side in bringing the investigation to its logical conclusion,” the statement added.
An official familiar with the talks told VOA that the Pakistani side highlighted the involvement of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in attacks on Chinese workers and other terrorist acts being perpetrated against Pakistan.
“Khurram Agha spoke about the attack of March 26 this year and expressed his desire to support the Afghan government in the security sector,” Taliban interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Kani said while sharing details of the talks between the two sides on Thursday.
The foreign minister quoted Omari as describing the “terrorist attack” on Chinese nationals as a “tragic incident.” “Our intention and actions are to promote peace in the region, for our own benefit and the benefit of all our peoples,” he said.
Omari reiterated Afghanistan’s determination to “not allow other countries to use Afghanistan’s territory against anyone” and said he “expects other countries to do the same.”
The TTP, designated a global terrorist organisation, has a long history of deadly attacks against security forces and civilian targets in Pakistan.
Officials in Islamabad claim that after the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan about three years ago, fugitive TTP leaders and fighters relocated to sanctuaries in Afghanistan and have since intensified cross-border attacks with “greater freedom of operation”.
Taliban officials deny the charges, saying neither the TTP nor any other militant group is based on Afghan territory.
“The two sides agreed to continue working together to counter terrorist threats against regional countries and address the concerns raised by Pakistan,” Pakistan said in a statement on Thursday.
Pakistan’s military said on Thursday that a meeting of military leaders reviewed the security situation and terrorism threats emanating from Afghan territory.
“The forum expressed serious concern over the continuing border violations from Afghanistan and the use of Afghan territory to orchestrate terrorism, and noted that Pakistan’s hostile elements are using Afghanistan to target security forces and innocent civilians inside Pakistan,” an army statement after the meeting said.
