Pakistan tells Afghanistan enough is enough

ISLAMABAD: A clear message has been sent out that enough was enough and for Pakistan it would not be business as usual, because now it was at liberty not only to defend the country but also “respond” to terrorist attacks coming from inside Afghanistan which Kabul continues to ignore.

Pakistan says the recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, while avoiding to name these “hostile powers”. The first thing that the government did on Friday was to close down the border openings with Afghanistan followed by a telephone call by Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Friday made to Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar.

Once again, the Foreign Office reiterated that the terrorist group Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA) was behind these recent barbaric acts of terrorism, where in Sehwan Sharif alone reports spoke of 20 young children being killed. The JuA, a splinter group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is alleged to be working closely with Daesh.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency, saying a suicide bomber had targeted a "Shia gathering" at the shrine. As the number of those killed on Thursday rose to 88, claims came from the military in retaliation that more than 100 suspects had been taken out but details of who and where were yet to come.

“The adviser expressed serious concern that JuA continued to operate from its sanctuaries and safe havens in Afghanistan for undertaking terrorism in Pakistan and the government of Afghanistan had not paid heed to Pakistan’s repeated calls on the Afghan government to take action against the group and its activities based in Afghanistan. In this regard, Pakistan has shared a list of suspected JuA terrorists with the government of Afghanistan for action against them,” the Foreign Office said.

A couple of days ago, the Foreign Office had summoned a senior Afghan diplomat where details and proof of JuA operating from safe sanctuaries inside Afghanistan were shared in great detail. 

On Friday, the COAS also summoned Afghan diplomats and handed over a list of 76 most-wanted terrorists and demanded that immediate action be taken against them or else be handed back to Pakistan. Names of groupings of these 76, most probably from the JuA, were not made public.

In his telephone conversation, Sartaj Aziz underlined that the government and the people of Pakistan were in a state of deep anguish and pain at the recent terrorist incidents in various parts of Pakistan resulting into loss of precious human lives.

“The adviser underscored that terrorism was a common threat and its elimination required close cooperation. He said it was important that Afghan government should take strong action against such elements to reaffirm that its soil was not used for terrorism in Pakistan,” added the statement.

Sartaj also emphasised that cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan was vital for effectively combating the scourge of terrorism. In this regard, effective border management was required to prevent the movement of terrorist elements across the border.