The Taliban’s snub to Pakistan on Doha Agreement has evoked strong reactions in Islamabad, which has accused the regime in neighboring Afghanistan of facilitating terrorists operating on its soil and vowed to eliminate terrorism.
Taliban, in response to the Islamabad assertion asking the Taliban-led Afghanistan government to abide by the Doha Agreement, the Taliban said that it had signed the deal with the US, not Pakistan, and denied the use of its territories.
After Islamabad blamed the Afghan Taliban for harboring Tehreek-e-Pakistan (TTP), came the government’s rebuff. It was allegedly responsible for the recent attacks on military bases in the volatile Balochistan province that left 12 soldiers dead.
Also read | Opposition meet: NCP chief Sharad Pawar to skip the first day
Criticism of the Taliban Regime
“Safe havens and liberty of action available to TTP in Afghanistan,” denounced the army’s media wing last Friday. Khwaja Asif, the defense minister, too criticized the nation’s regime the next day for “neglecting its duties as a neighboring and fraternal country,” and also for disregarding the counter-terrorism commitments it had made in the Doha peace deal.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, in response to Asif’s statement, said Pashto that they didn’t sign the peace accord with Islamabad, during an interview with BBC. He told, ” It was a document signed between us and the US.”
Farhatullah Babar, a senior Pakistan People’s Party Leader remarked “disturbing” to Mujahid’s statement. He questioned, “Does it mean the Doha Agreement binds the Taliban to rein in only some militants, not all?”
In agreement with Babar’s interpretation, Khwaja Asif said that Pakistan stood resolute in uprooting terrorism from its soil, whatever the source, ” regardless of whether or not Kabul has the will to reign in militants from within its borders.”
In August 2021, when the country had marched into Kabul, Pakistan’s leadership was jubilant that a “friendly” regime had come to power the next door. The country’s takeover in Afghanistan was even celebrated in Pakistan cities, but the spike in terror attacks since then has been a dampener.
For more latest news, click here.
