Sunday, June 7, 2020
Kabul (BNA) Afghan government on Saturday rejected Islamabad’s allegation with regard to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the use of Afghanistan soil by a third party to destabilize that country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said the TTP and its affiliates had been involved in the killing of Afghans and that they had been designated as terrorist organizations in the National Threat Assessment and National Security Policy of Afghanistan.
Like other terrorist outfits, the TTP since its emergence had been allied with those fighting against the government and people of Afghanistan, a statement from the ministry said. Over the years, a significant number of TTP leaders and operatives had either been taken out on the battlefield or captured and brought to justice in Afghanistan, the MoFA added. As a victim of terrorism, Afghanistan had been doing its best to play a proactive part in the region’s collective fight against the common enemy, the ministry claimed.
The elimination of several top TTP leaders and the prosecution and imprisonment of hundreds of foreign fighters from TTP, LeT, JEM, ETIM, IMU, ISIS-K and other transnational terrorist groups were a testament to Kabul’s strong will and relentless efforts in the fight against terrorism, it maintained. In the interest of regional cooperation, the statement continued, Kabul had provided the partner countries concerned access to the leaders and operatives of terror outfits in Afghanistan’s custody.
“As a cornerstone of our commitment to the fight against terrorism, we have shown that Afghanistan has never allowed and will never tolerate any acts by any third party, whether state or non-state, to use Afghan soil to destabilize another country.”
The statement said: “This resolve to fight terrorism relentlessly without any distinction flows from the solidarity we have expressed with victims of terrorism, whether in Pakistan, India or elsewhere in the world.” While the fight against regional and international terrorism must remain a top priority for all responsible states in the region and globally, the ministry insisted that Afghanistan was also pursuing a peace process as it needed need consistent cooperation from regional and international allies. “We believe it is in the best interest of countries in the region and the international community to support the Afghan peace process as it will bring strategic gains to global counter-terrorism and regional security efforts.”
Lasting peace in Afghanistan would deny foreign fighters and terrorists any symbiotic relation they had established with those fighting against the government in Kabul and with the transnational criminal organisations involved in drug, weapons and human trafficking. “
Therefore, it is our earnest expectation that partner countries in the region and beyond will support the Afghan peace process as a key investment in regional and global counterterrorism and stability,” the ministry concluded.
