Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
International

Pak Interior Minister admits country hosting Taliban families

Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Jun, 2021 02:01 PM
  • Pak Interior Minister admits country hosting Taliban families

slamabad, June 28 (IANS) Pakistan has for long completely rejected assertions of having Taliban footprints on its soil. However, incumbent Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has admitted that Islamabad not only hosts families of the Taliban, but it also is aware of fighters getting medical treatment in the country.

Ahmed, well known for his outspoken attitude, has admitted that families of Taliban fighters reside in the country and many of the group's members receive medical treatment in local hospitals.

In an interview to a local television network, the Minister said many of those familiesreside in the surrounding areas Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

"Taliban families live here, in Pakistan, in Rawat, Loi Ber, Bara Kahu and Tarnol areas. Sometimes their (fighters) dead bodies arrive and sometimes they come here in hospital to get medical treatment," he added.

Ahmed's admission bcompletely negates Islamabad's outright rejection of allegations leveled by Kabul and Washington that Taliban terrorists use Pakistani soil to direct and sustain their activities in Afghanistan.

On the other hand, Pakistan has counter-blamed Afghanistan for facilitating militants and other illegal movements from its 2,600 km-long open border into Pakistan.

Pakistan has also maintained that it facilitates about three million Afghan refugees for decades, which at times does serve as a hiding place for the Taliban insurgents.

Recently, the Pakistan Foreign Office had categorically rejected the remarks of the Press Office of the Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs, regarding activities of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan.

"The assertion of the Afghan side are contrary to facts on ground and various reports of the UN, which also corroborate the presence and activities of over 5000-strong TTP in Afghanistan"" said the Pakistan Foreign Office.

"Over the last many years, TTP has launched several gruesome terrorist attacks inside Pakistan using Afghan soil without any retribution from its hosts. The 12th Report of the UN Monitoring Team issued in June 2021, acknowledges TTP's distinctive anti-Pakistan objectives and notes its location within Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.

"The TTP following its orchestrated reunification with its splinter groups with the help of Hostile Intelligence Agencies (HIAs), its continued presence in Afghanistan with impunity and its cross-border attacks against Pakistan pose persistent threat to our security and stability," the Office added.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has stated that Pakistan's gains against terrorism, could be undermined severely if the security situation worsens in Afghanistan, and lead towards a civil war.

"We are already hosting and looking after almost three million Afghan refugees and we cannot take more because we are not in a position to shoulder the burden," said Qureshi, insisting that the worsening security situation in Afghanistan could also trigger another exodus of refugees into Pakistan.

However, the statement by the Interior Minister certainly has raised many eyebrows, who are now questioning the Imran Khan-led government and reminding it of its claims of now allowing terrorists to operate from its soil.

MORE International ARTICLES

Indian-Origin Man Damanpreet Singh Given Extra Prison Time For Failing To Self-Surrender For First Sentence

Indian-Origin Man Damanpreet Singh Given Extra Prison Time For Failing To Self-Surrender For First Sentence
An Indian-origin man has been sentenced to nine additional months in prison for failing to surrender to serve his prison sentence.    

Indian-Origin Man Damanpreet Singh Given Extra Prison Time For Failing To Self-Surrender For First Sentence

53-Yr-Old Indian-American Techie Killed 4 Relatives Within 1 Week

An Indian-American man, who is facing charges for the murder of four of his relatives, killed them in a span of one week, according to court documents.    

53-Yr-Old Indian-American Techie Killed 4 Relatives Within 1 Week

900K Troops In Kashmir To Terrorise 8M People: Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday again criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for thinking he could "get his agenda of annexation" by using force to silence Kashmiris.

900K Troops In Kashmir To Terrorise 8M People: Imran Khan

FATF Retains Pakistan In Grey List; Warns Of Action

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gave the warning to Pakistan at its five-day plenary which concluded here on Friday while deciding to again put the country on the ‘Grey List’.

FATF Retains Pakistan In Grey List; Warns Of Action

3 Arrested For Duping Us Customers By Impersonating Microsoft Officials

Three men were arrested for allegedly duping US-based customers through a call centre in the city’s Topsia area by impersonating officials of tech giant Microsoft, police said on Friday.  

3 Arrested For Duping Us Customers By Impersonating Microsoft Officials

Pakistan Man Sentenced To 5 Years In Jail For Blasphemous Facebook

Pakistan Man Sentenced To 5 Years In Jail For Blasphemous Facebook
The special court for cybercrime sentenced Sajid Ali, an active member of the Shia sect after he was charged for posting "sacrilegious, blasphemous and derogatory" material on Facebook in 2017.  

Pakistan Man Sentenced To 5 Years In Jail For Blasphemous Facebook