Khawaja Asif criticises Afghanistan for inaction against militants

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif on Saturday rebuked the Afghanistan government for inaction against militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, despite repeated requests made by the Pakistan government.

In an interview with BBC Urdu, Asif said Pakistan hoped for cooperation from the Afghan government, however, the latter was not ready to take action against the militants.

“Pakistan (even) offered to grant Rs10 billion to shift the militants towards the western border; however, it was feared that they could come back from there too,” he said.

In an interview with the Voice of America (VoA) Thursday, Asif had said that under the Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, Pakistan could target terrorist hideouts across the border in Afghanistan. He had also dismissed the possibility of negotiations with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Addressing the concerns on whether the fresh anti-terrorism operation was being launched under pressure, the minister said Operation Azm-e-Istehkam was not on army’s demand, rather it was the government’s need. He also clarified that there was no pressure from China for the operation.