Accusations and Announcements

Following accusations by Islamabad of Afghan involvement in suicide attacks in Pakistan, the Taliban in Kabul announced on Wednesday that dozens of ISIS-linked Pakistanis were killed or arrested in Afghanistan last year.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP that 18 people killed by the movement’s militants in Afghanistan last year were Pakistanis.

He also added, “They were members of ISIS and were involved in various bombings and other attacks,” explaining that dozens of others are being held in Afghan prisons.

First time

Mujahid’s remarks came after a statement was released Tuesday evening calling on the Taliban not to be held responsible for “the security failure of any country in the region.”

This is the first time that the Taliban authorities have publicly accused Pakistanis of committing terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. Tensions between the two neighboring countries have recently escalated following the suicide attacks in Pakistan.

While Islamabad believes that the perpetrators of terrorist attacks in Pakistan operate from shelters in Afghanistan and are assisted by Afghan citizens.

“harms regional peace and stability”

On Monday, Pakistani Chief of Staff Sad Asim Munir Ahmed said the intervention by Afghan citizens “is detrimental to regional peace and stability and constitutes a departure from the Doha Agreement for Peace in Afghanistan” that was negotiated in 2020 between Washington and the Taliban and its terms included the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

Then the Taliban authorities pledged not to allow foreign fighters to use Afghan territory to plan attacks abroad.