Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said blaming Afghanistan for Pakistan’s “failures” would not resolve the country’s problems, as tensions between the two sides remain high over militancy and cross-border security.
Mujahid accused Pakistani officials of making what he called baseless allegations, attempting to undermine negotiations and focusing on “propaganda” rather than finding solutions.
He said Pakistan’s political, security, social and economic challenges were a matter of “serious concern” and had implications for the wider region. Mujahid called on Pakistani authorities to take constructive steps to address domestic problems and to respect the views and rights of the country’s politicians and people.
His remarks came after Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Sajjad Haider Khan, renewed Islamabad’s allegations that the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and other armed groups have safe havens in Afghanistan.
At an Oct. 9 briefing, Khan said the TTP, the Baloch Liberation Army and other groups had found safe havens in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan. He said Pakistan had provided Taliban authorities with information about the locations of militants and called on them to prevent groups based in Afghanistan from carrying out attacks in Pakistan.
Taliban authorities have repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s allegations that they harbor or support militants operating against neighboring countries.
Relations between Taliban authorities and Pakistan have deteriorated sharply over the issue. Islamabad has repeatedly linked militant violence inside Pakistan to groups it says operate from Afghanistan’s territory, while the Taliban have said Pakistan is attempting to shift responsibility for its domestic security problems onto Afghanistan.
The dispute has also complicated diplomatic efforts between the two sides. Pakistan said in September that mediation efforts involving Qatar, Turkey and China had failed to produce a breakthrough, arguing that the Taliban had not sufficiently addressed Islamabad’s security concerns.
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said earlier this month that problems between the two sides could be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
The security dispute has increasingly spilled across the border. Pakistan has carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan that it says targeted militant hideouts, while the Taliban have condemned the operations as violations of Afghanistan’s sovereignty and disputed Pakistan’s account of the targets and casualties.
In the latest reported strikes, at least 10 civilians were killed and nine others wounded in Kunar and Helmand provinces on Oct. 1, according to the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. UNAMA said most of those killed were children.
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