ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday said that Afghanistan had been asked to address concerns about presence of Pakistani terrorist groups on its soil, which are believed to be behind the latest wave of terrorism in the country.

“We took up the issue with the Afghan Deputy Head of Mission because the responsibility for the Lahore terrorist attack was claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahraar, which is based in Afghanistan. …We have urged the Afghan side earlier, and this time also, to take necessary steps to address our concerns,” Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said at his weekly media briefing.

The country has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks since Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) announced its ‘Operation Ghazi’. The Afghanistan-based JuA had in the announcement also hinted at unification of TTP splinter groups.

It should be recalled that TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah is also based in Afghanistan and Pakistani pleadings for his arrest and handover have remained unanswered.

At the heart of lack of cooperation from the Afghan side has been the mutual mistrust.

Kabul has been accusing Islamabad of not acting against Taliban and Haqqani network sanctuaries allegedly present in its territory. Taliban and Haqqani network are carrying out insurgency in Afghanistan.

The FO spokesman offered Pakistan’s cooperation in restoring peace to Afghanistan.

“We remain committed to providing all necessary support and cooperation to bring about peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Mr Zakaria said, but gave no details of how Pakistan planned to assist Afghanistan.

Pakistan has unsuccessfully tried in the past to broker a political settlement between Taliban and the Afghan government. However, the government has avoided action against Taliban and Haqqani leaders present in Pakistan, saying it cannot enter a new conflict.

Mr Zakaria appeared understanding of the Afghan position and avoided directly accusing Afghan security and intelligence agencies of patronising Pakistani terrorist groups.

“The turmoil in Afghanistan, which has been persisting for almost 40 years now and especially the current situation in the last few years, has created a space for violent non-state actors and terrorist organisations to find their foothold there,” he said.

Responding to another question, the spokesman said that India had remained involved in acts of terrorism in Pakistan.

“They not only perpetrate such activities but also finance such terror activities. We have already taken up this issue and we will constantly take it up with the international community,” he said.

Asked about the spike in ceasefire violations by India at the LoC and Working Boundary, Mr Zakaria said it was being done to divert the world’s attention from the genocide and grave human rights violations committed by Indian occupation forces against defenceless people in held Kashmir.

Moscow meeting

The spokesman said that the six-party talks, hosted by Russia in which Pakistan also participated, discussed regional approaches to the security situation in Afghanistan and agreed to enlarge this six-party format with the inclusion of Central Asian countries in it.

“Pakistan welcomes all such initiatives. We expect regional countries to play their constructive role in this regard,” he maintained and noted that the impact of the situation in Afghanistan on the regional countries was a matter of concern.

“There is a common concern among regional countries on the growing footprint of terrorist organisations like Daesh in Afghanistan, and it is directly related to peace efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, as well as maintaining regional peace,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2017