Rattled Pakistan warns Taliban to end ties with TTP

Islamabad: Pakistan has urged Taliban authorities to cut ties with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and fulfill its commitments to eliminate the “terrorist group” from Afghan soil, warning that failure would be considered as a “hostile” activity, local media reported on Wednesday.

Pakistan conveyed its concerns to Kabul through Afghanistan’s interim ambassador in Pakistan who was summoned at the Foreign Office in Islamabad. Pakistani authorities conveyed that Taliban must ensure that Afghan soil is not used for terror activities, leading Pakistani daily The News International reported.

The interim Afghan envoy was summoned after a recent rise in terrorist activities of Fitna al-Khawarij terrorists, sheltering on Afghan soil, the newspaper reported.

Additional Foreign Secretary Syed Ali Assad Gilani reportedly expressed Pakistan’s concern to the Afghan envoy.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Sadiq Khan is likely to lead a delegation of senior officials to Kabul later this week to discuss latest developments in bilateral issues with Taliban. He will convey Pakistani authorities message to his interlocutors in Afghanistan.

Recently, Khan returned to Islamabad from his visit to United Arab Emirates, where was on an Afghanistan-related unannounced mission. He will be presenting a detailed report to the Pakistan’s leadership about his visit, the local media reported.

The latest development comes after at least 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in various attacks conducted by TTP between September 10 to 13.

Confirming the deaths of soldiers, Pakistan military’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that they were killed during an intense fire exchange in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan district in two separate engagements.

Last Saturday, citing the state-run Radio Pakistan, the local media mentioned that the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to continue responding to terrorism with “full force” after the attacks which continued on Saturday.

“Radio Pakistan reported that PM Shehbaz and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir later visited Bannu and attended a high-level meeting on counter-terrorism. It added that they also participated in the funeral prayers of the South Waziristan operation martyrs,” Pakistan’s leading daily Dawn reported.

Sharif was also quoted as saying that terrorist leaders and facilitators responsible for attacks in Pakistan are operating from Afghan soil.

“The Prime Minister stated that the Afghan Interim Government has been clearly told to choose between supporting the Khawarij or stand with Pakistan. He highlighted the involvement of infiltrated Afghan nationals in terrorist incidents and stressed the urgent need for the repatriation of illegal Afghan residents currently living in Pakistan,” the report stated.

A report in another leading Pakistani media outlet, The Express Tribune, stated that, besides the 12 soldiers, 35 terrorists have also been killed in the retaliatory operations.

IANS