Islamabad/United Nations, June 22: Marking another low in their bilateral ties, Pakistan has told the UN Security Council that despite promises the Taliban government in Kabul has failed to act “decisively” to halt cross-border terrorist attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) into Pakistan.
“The highest priority – for the international community, for Afghanistan’s neighbours and for Afghanistan itself – remains the elimination of terrorism within and from Afghanistan,” Ambassador Munir Akram, the permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said in a debate on the situation in Afghanistan.
Pakistan, he said, has repeatedly conveyed to the Taliban — at very senior levels — to act decisively to end the TTP’s attacks, disarm its fighters, capture and hand over the terrorist group’s fighters to Pakistan.
“Unfortunately, despite promises, no meaningful action has been taken so far. TTP safe havens remain close to Pakistan’s borders. Cross-border attacks have continued, including one by a TTP associate that killed several Chinese engineers working on the Dasu hydro power project,” the Pakistani envoy told the 15-member Council.
“The impunity which some of these terrorist groups seem to enjoy within Afghanistan poses a dire and direct threat to all of Afghanistan’s neighbours as well as to the international community.”
Akram said that despite progress by the Afghan interim government in combating Daesh, several other terrorist groups, including Al-Qaeda, TTP, East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, continue to operate in Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan has urged the Afghan government to take effective and sustained action against these groups in compliance with UNSC resolutions.
He described the TTP as the most direct and serious threat to Pakistan and detailed its terrorist activities, which have resulted in hundreds of civilian and military casualties in his country.
The envoy said the TTP has intensified its attacks after acquiring sophisticated weapons.
Ambassador Akram urged the Security Council to call on the Taliban government to sever its links with the TTP and its associates; prevent them from carrying out cross-border attacks against Pakistan; disarm the TTP terrorists and capture the TTP’s leadership and hand them over to Pakistan.
He said Pakistan has consistently advocated for sustained engagement with the Afghan interim authorities to normalize the situation in that country.
He welcomed the Taliban’s announcement to participate in the upcoming UN-sponsored meeting in Doha, and underlined the need for both the international community and the Afghan interim Government to “be clear about the overall objectives they seek”.
“Unless we know where we are going, we will never get there,” he added.
Akram said Pakistan enjoys close bonds of ethnicity, history, faith, language and culture with Afghanistan.
“Pakistan has a national compulsion to promote peace, stability and development in Afghanistan. And we will continue to work at all levels – bilateral, regional and international and with the UN– to achieve these objectives.”
