Afghans 'involvement in terrorism' detrimental' to regional peace, says Pakistan army chief

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan's army chief said on Monday that the alleged involvement of Afghan nationals in a fresh spate of terrorism in the country is "detrimental" to regional peace and stability, aside from a "deviation" from the 2020 Doha agreement.

“Terrorism has no place in Pakistan, and the involvement of Afghan nationals in terrorist incidents in Pakistan is detrimental to regional peace, stability, and deviation from the Doha peace agreement by the interim Afghan government,” Gen. Asim Munir said at a meeting with tribal elders in Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders neighboring Afghanistan.

His remarks came days after the Afghan Taliban's Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, warned militia members against carrying out attacks abroad.

Afghanistan's interim Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said in a speech to members of Afghanistan’s security forces on Saturday that fighting outside of Afghanistan is not religiously sanctioned “jihad,” but rather war, which the Supreme Leader has prohibited.

“Pakistan has concerns over sanctuaries available to banned outfits and liberty of action they enjoy on Afghan soil," the army chief said, according to a statement from the military's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations.

Munir said Islamabad will spare no effort to "dismantle terrorist networks and protect its citizens at all costs.”

The tribal elders, for their part, assured that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and "its ideology will never be acceptable to any tribe, and they will continue to stand with the state during the thick and thin."

The TTP is a consortium of several militant outfits in Pakistan that Islamabad believes is currently operating from Afghanistan. Kabul, on the other hand, denies the accusation.

Reiterating the "resolve of Pakistan Army, and other law enforcing agencies in their fight against terrorism, till elimination of this menace from the country," Munir said the "peril of Narco," which has become a "lifeline" for the TTP, will be finished.

“The surge in terrorism in recent past is a futile effort on the part of terrorists to get the talks re-initiated, however, there is no option for these terrorists except to submit to the writ of state of Pakistan before they are decimated, if they persist on their wrong path," he warned.

Islamabad is believed to have a degree of influence over the Afghan Taliban, but in contrast to its expectations, the South Asian country has seen a dramatic uptick in terrorist attacks since they returned to power two years ago.