Terror incidents in Pakistan up 60% since Afghan interim govt came to power: caretaker PM

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Wednesday there has been a 60% increase in terror incidents and 500 percent rise in suicide attacks in Pakistan since the interim Afghan government came to power in 2021.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, the caretaker PM said in the last two years, 2,267 citizens’ lives have been lost, for which the terrorists of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are responsible who are conducting cowardly attacks on Pakistani using Afghan soil.

TTP ends ceasefire with govt, orders ‘attacks’ in country

“During this time, 15 Afghan citizens were also among the people involved in suicide attacks. Other than this, till now, 64 Afghan citizens were killed while fighting Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies during the counterterrorism campaign,” the interim PM added.

PM Kakar said Pakistan had expectations the interim Afghan government will take stern action against the TTP.

“This is the reason that the government decided to repatriate illegal foreign nationals from November 1,” he said. In October, the government had given one month’s time to illegal nationals to leave the country.

Country to implement ODR to check illegal immigration

Earlier, Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti had dispelled the impression that the government desired repatriation of Afghans only, saying that the deadline is for every foreigner who is staying illegally in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Kakar said that Pakistan has the legal and moral prerogative to repatriate illegal foreign nationals, stressing there will be no backtracking on this policy.

Kakar shared about 252,000 illegal nationals have voluntarily returned to their homeland.

Illegal migrants: KP cabinet reviews deportation process

The caretaker PM also demanded the Afghan government to extradite Pakistanis residing illegally in Afghanistan and engaged in terrorist activities within Pakistan, saying that Pakistan expects the Afghan government take all possible steps for the elimination of TTP hideouts and training camps on its soil.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

The attack comes after several terror attacks in the district last week. On November 3, at least five people were killed in a bomb blast in DI Khan.

The bomb exploded close to the route of a police patrol in the city. At least 21 people were also injured in the incident.

In May, 22 soldiers were injured after a security forces convoy was targeted by a motorcycle. The blast occurred near the Chehkan area on Tank Road.