Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said “baseless accusations” by Pakistani authorities were damaging ties between the two countries.
In an interview with the Taliban-controlled Radio Afghanistan (RTA) on Saturday, June 1, Mujahid said the instability in Pakistan had nothing to do with the group.
He said the Taliban had been trying to improve ties with Pakistan but “baseless accusations” had not helped.
“We have made every effort to improve relations but unfortunately unfounded and unjustified accusations have not resolved the issue,” a Taliban spokesman said.
A spokesman for Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada blamed Pakistan’s deteriorating security situation on “weaknesses in the country’s security forces.”
He said Pakistan had to ensure its own security and “Afghanistan has nothing to do with these issues.”
Mujahid’s remarks came just two days after a Pakistani delegation led by Pakistan’s Interior Secretary Khurram Agha visited Kabul to share the findings of its investigation into the attack on a Chinese engineer in Peshawar’s Besham area with the Taliban’s Interior Ministry.
According to a press release from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Khurram Agha, during his visit to Kabul, called on the Taliban to arrest those responsible for the attack on a Chinese engineer who they claim has fled to Afghanistan.
For the past three years, Pakistani officials have blamed the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) for attacks, particularly the recent one on a Chinese engineer, and have maintained that the attack was planned from Afghan territory.