WASHINGTON: Amid Islamabad’s calls for Afghanistan to rein in terrorists responsible for escalating militancy in Pakistan, Washington on Tuesday also asked the Afghan Taliban to prevent their soil from becoming a safe haven for terrorist attacks.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller’s statement comes a day after the Pakistan military accused Kabul for increase in militancy, saying that safe havens and liberty of action, along with the latest weapons available to militants from Afghanistan, enabled them to carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
Pakistan’s concerns
Islamabad has repeatedly raised concerns over the use of Afghan soil by militants for cross-border attacks. In a recent statement, the army said it expected the Afghan Taliban to take action against terrorists and abide by the Doha deal.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had also on Saturday severely criticized Afghanistan for neglecting its responsibilities as a neighbouring and fraternal nation and for disregarding obligations made in the Doha peace deal, particularly its pledge to prevent the use of Afghanistan for terrorist activities.
The US State Department spokesperson joined Pakistan, saying that it was the Taliban administration’s responsibility to control terror activities originating from their soil, Dawn reported on Tuesday.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, following the termination of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in November 2022.
