Pakistan on Tuesday termed the latest Afghan allegations as "unfounded and counter-productive" wherein the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Security Council alleged the country's spy agencies for training and funding the terrorists to carry out attacks inside the neighbouring country.
"We express our dismay at the latest allegations levelled in the statements issued by Afghanistan's National Security Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs," said Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam while responding to the latest allegations, saying the repeated attempts by the Afghan side to implicate Pakistan's intelligence agencies in terrorist activities are both unfounded and counter-productive.
She said that Pakistan had been stressed time and again that it remained committed to disallowing its territory to be used against any country. "We would not allow anyone to breach Pakistan's laws in this regard or to undermine our goals of fostering friendly and co-operative relations with neighbouring countries," she said. "At the same time, we believe that the threat of terrorism is best addressed through mutual co-operation," she added.
"Pakistan's firm resolve to combat this menace, without any distinction or discrimination, is concretely manifested in the on-going military operation Zarb-e-Azb," she added. The spokesperson said that it was imperative that complementary actions were taken by the Afghan authorities on their side of the border. She pointed out that the elimination of terrorist sanctuaries and handing over of the TTP elements that had taken a refuge in Afghanistan were the first important step in that direction.
The spokesperson also expressed the hope that the Afghan side would respond positively by taking the requisite counter-terrorism steps in the long-term for friendly, co-operative and good-neighbourly relations with Pakistan. "Such a co-operative Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship, we convinced, is the best guarantee for durable peace, stability and prosperity in the region," she underscored.
However, a statement issued by Afghan Foreign Ministry on Monday, stated that Pakistan's Charge d' Affairs Said Muaazzam Shah was summoned in Kabul and expressed Afghanistan's "severe and deep" concern regarding Panjabi Taliban's latest announcement to launch attacks on its side of the Durand Line.
The statement added, "Having condemned Panjabi Taliban's latest movements and news releases, the Head of the First Political Directorate Abdussamad Samad said, "What Panjabi Taliban have recently done and said is a clear conspiracy against Afghanistan's security and stability, and such utterances and actions are against the international rights and norms and in opposition to the principles of good neighbourhood."
The statement further quoted the Afghan Head of the First Political Directorate as saying "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has been subject to terrorist attacks for many years, and there is no doubt that the Pakistani intelligence networks are training, mobilising, and funding these terrorist groups, and a large number of Pakistani terrorists have been killed and arrested in different parts of the country."
"Abdussamad Samad called Punjabi Taliban's latest announcement about expanding war in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a clear and dangerous interference by the Pakistani intelligence groups in the domestic affairs of Afghanistan and considered these types of activities against the lives of the innocent people of Afghanistan", the statement further added.