Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Wednesday asked Pakistan not to blame others for its own mistakes two days after the Peshawar mosque explosion.
In the recent past, Pakistani leadership has repeatedly accused Afghan authorities of giving sanctuaries to the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups to attack Pakistan.
Earlier, Pakistan’s defense minister had said that Afghanistan’s soil has been used against Pakistan. The statement came after a brutal explosion took place at a mosque in Peshawar, resulting in the death and injury of hundreds of people.
TTP also known as Pakistani Taliban claimed the responsibility for Tuesday’s terror attack, describing it as revenge for the killing of Khalid Khorasani, a key commander of the insurgent group.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said that Kabul and Islamabad should work together to defeat terrorism and growing militancy in the region. Mr. Asif had also reiterated earlier in the week that TTP helped Afghan Taliban to fight the American invasion of Afghanistan for the past twenty years. Now, Afghan Taliban are helping TTP to pay their debt and show loyalty to their ideological twin.
In response to Pakistani officials’ sharp remarks, Muttaqi asked the Pakistani authorities not to criticize Afghanistan, but instead, look for comprehensive solutions within their own country.
“If supposedly Afghanistan was the hub of terrorism, it would have spread to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, China, and other countries, which has not yet happened,” the Taliban Foreign Minister said.
After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, several Pakistani officials have repeatedly said that the country’s armed opposition had taken refuge in Afghanistan. Whereas Afghan Taliban authorities have rejected the baseless claims and stated that the Islamic Emirate will allow Afghan soil to be used against other counties in the region and beyond.
