Pakistan was ready for a cleanup operation in Afghanistan but halted it due to Qatar\u2019s intervention, says DPM
\n Islamabad
\nDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday that during his recent visit to Kabul, the Afghan Taliban interim rulers informed him about the detention of hundreds of TTP militants.
\n\u201c[Afghan Foreign Minister] Amir Muttaqi invited Pakistan to send a delegation to come and verify arrests of hundreds of TTP members,\u201d the deputy premier said while terming the TTP militants detention \u201cnot enough\u201d.
\nBriefing the media on his recent visits to Moscow, Berlin and Brussels, Dar urged the interim rulers to ensure Afghan soil is not used for terrorism against Pakistan.
\n\u201cIslamabad maintains that far more decisive and sustained action is needed against TTP [Fitna al-Khawarij] elements operating from Afghan soil,\u201d he added.
\nFitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned TTP.
\nPakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in terrorism since 2021, the year that the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, and despite Islamabad\u2019s repeated requests, the regime has yet to rein in terrorists using its soil for cross-border terrorism.
\nLately, banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Noor Wali Mehsud plotted the Islamabad suicide attack, which martyred 12, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed on November 25.
\nThe ties between the neighbours have strained further since October, when the two sides engaged in clashes. Taliban forces, along with TTP militants, attacked Pakistani posts, martyring nearly two dozen soldiers, following which Pakistan launched major attacks against Afghanistan.
\nA ceasefire was eventually reached in Doha with the help of friendly nations, but negotiations ended without a long-term deal after Kabul did not provide a written commitment to take action against militants sought by Islamabad.
\nDuring today\u2019s media briefing, Dar noted that Pakistan\u2019s sincerity regarding Afghanistan was \u201cnot hidden from anyone,\u201d noting that he himself had undertaken three visits to Kabul.
\nThe deputy prime minister said Pakistan and Afghanistan have had no high-level engagement for the past four years, stressing that such interaction must be restored.
\nHe urged the Afghan Taliban leadership to review its policy, warning that Pakistan had \u201ccarried the coffins of its own soldiers\u201d due to continued terrorist attacks.
\nDar said Pakistan had suffered 4,000 martyrdoms since the Taliban takeover in 2021. Furthermore, he said Pakistan had conveyed to Afghan authorities that peace was the only way forward.
\nThe deputy prime minister said Pakistan categorically asked Afghan leadership to take action against the banned TTP. However, he stressed, Afghanistan did not fulfil its counterterrorism commitments, and the security situation deteriorated.
\nHe said Pakistan had only one demand: Afghan territory must not be used for attacks against Pakistan. Islamabad also asked Kabul to move TTP elements away from the border or hand them over to Pakistan.
\nDar said his April 19 visit to Kabul yielded some benefit, and Pakistan fulfilled all promises it made \u2014 something Afghanistan also acknowledged.
\nHe said Pakistan signed a railway agreement with Afghanistan, and during his visit to China, the Chinese foreign minister proposed holding a trilateral meeting in Kabul.
\nPakistan fully agreed with the proposal. But despite Pakistan\u2019s single and clear demand, Dar said, \u201cthere has been no positive progress from Afghanistan.\u201d
\n\u2018Cleanup operation\u2019
\nResponding to a question during the briefing, the foreign minister said that Pakistan was prepared to launch a cleanup operation in Afghanistan when friendly nation Qatar alongside Turkiye offered to mediate between the two countries.
\n\u201cThey [Qatar] were aware of our planned kinetic operation, and they requested us to stop and took responsibility of resolving the matter,\u201d he said, thanking PM Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir for halting the operation.
\nHowever, Dar regretted, the two to three rounds of negotiations yielded no results. He added that the mediators withdrew in \u201cembarrassment\u201d after the Taliban refused to soften their position.
\nHe said Pakistan did not close the border with Afghanistan \u201cout of happiness,\u201d but due to security imperatives, adding that within the Afghan Taliban regime, \u201chalf are inclined toward peace, while the other half think otherwise.\u201d
\nAt the same presser, Dar said Pakistan was mulling to allow supply of essential foodstuff for the Afghan people only on the request of the United Nations.
\nHe informed that they received a request from the UN for reconsideration of permission to allow humanitarian aid for the Afghan people.
\nConsidering the tense situation and closure of borders, Dar said that though there was no room for relaxation, he would take up the matter of UN\u2019s request with the prime minister and the military leadership, expressing the hope to take positive action for the Afghan people solely.
\nHe said that permission over essential foodstuffs might be granted in a day.
\n\u2018Pakistan ready to contribute to Gaza peace force\u2019
\nSpeaking about the contribution of Pakistani troops to the proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF) in Gaza, Dar said Pakistan had made it clear that the proposal should have the recognition by the UNSC.
\nPakistan had proposed changes in the US-drafted resolution in the UNSC, in consultation with eight other key countries, and eventually it was passed.
\nHowever, with regard to disarming of Hamas by the ISF, he made it clear that Pakistan like with other key countries, was not ready for that as it was the domain of the Palestinian law enforcement forces.
\nPakistan was ready to contribute for ISF but first, its ToRs, mandate and role should be clearly decided, till then they could not make a final decision, Malaysia also had objections over proposed ISF role to disarm Hamas, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan was ready for a cleanup operation in Afghanistan but halted it due to Qatar\u2019s intervention, says DPM Islamabad Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday that during his recent visit to Kabul, the Afghan Taliban interim rulers informed him about the detention of hundreds of TTP militants. \u201c[Afghan Foreign Minister] […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-517437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n