The Afghan Taliban administration on Sunday rejected Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah\u2019s remarks pertaining to the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan\u2019s (TTP) hideouts in Afghanistan, calling them \u201cprovocative\u201d and \u201cbaseless\u201d.<\/p>\n
In an interview Sanaullah had said that Pakistan may target TTP militants in Afghanistan if authorities in Kabul did not take any action against them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfghanistan is our brotherly country and we will first talk to them to dismantle the TTP hideouts and hand over the group\u2019s members to Pakistan,\u201d the interior minister had said.<\/p>\n
In case of inaction by the Afghan authorities, Sanaullah had warned that \u201cthe international laws give you the right to target those who attack you\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sanaullah passed these remarks while talking about the decisions taken in the first round of the National Security Meeting \u2014 the principal decision-making forum on foreign policy and national security \u2014 which took place on Friday. It had decided to response with \u201cfull force\u201d to those who challenged the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an understanding in the NSC\u2019s meeting that there is no other option but to opt for a clearance operation,\u201d he had said.<\/p>\n
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan has seen an uptick in terrorist attacks across the country, believed to have been planned and directed by the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders based in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban, has executed around 115 attacks so far this year, most of which happened after August this year when the group\u2019s peace talks with the Pakistan government began to falter. The ceasefire was formally ended last month by the TTP.<\/p>\n
Pakistan has been pressing successive governments in Kabul to take action against the TTP and other militants based in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The Afghan National Defense Ministry on Sunday issued a statement, saying that it \u201cviews the Pakistan interior minister\u2019s (Sanaullah) statement about the presence of TTP in Afghanistan and possible attack as provocative and baseless.\u201d<\/p>\n
It claimed that there was \u201cproof\u201d of TTP bases in Pakistan and such \u201cclaims by Pakistani officials harm good relations between two brotherly neighbouring countries\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfghanistan calls for resolution of every concern through understanding,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n
It also said that Afghanistan was \u201cready to defend its territorial integrity and independence\u201d and knew how to defend the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Afghan Taliban administration on Sunday rejected Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah\u2019s remarks pertaining to the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan\u2019s (TTP) hideouts in Afghanistan, calling them \u201cprovocative\u201d and \u201cbaseless\u201d. In an interview Sanaullah had said that Pakistan may target TTP militants in Afghanistan if authorities in Kabul did not take any action against them. \u201cAfghanistan is our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-305031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n