Pakistan has made it clear to Afghanistan that it expects sincere cooperation from the neighbouring country against terrorism, a few days after a suicide bombing claimed 101 lives at a mosque in Peshawar.
A day earlier, Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Islamabad should not put the blame for the blast on Kabul.
Tolo News quoted the Afghan minister as saying that there “is no terrorist base in Afghanistan and the county’s soil will not be used against other countries.”
“We ask Pakistan’s ministers to not throw the snow of their own roofs onto the roofs of others. They should consider their problems in their own country. We advise them to look into the Peshawar explosion in great detail,” Muttaqi was quoted as saying.
Speaking about the matter during a weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan had seen the remarks made by the minister.
“Pakistan expects sincere cooperation from the interim Afghan government to address the challenge of terrorism and hopes that Kabul would live up to the commitments made to the international community in this regard,” she maintained.
She added that Islamabad viewed the “loss of innocent lives very seriously” and expected its neighbours to do the same.”
The spokesperson reminded Kabul that terrorism is a common threat to both the countries, and that a strong stance was necessary against entities that use violence against innocent citizens and LEAs.
“We remain firm in our resolve to root out the evil of terrorism and safeguard the security of every citizen,” she remarked.
The spokesperson made it clear that Islamabad didn’t believe in accusations or pointing fingers, but it would also reiterate the expectation that no country would allow its territory to be used for perpetrating terrorism against Pakistan.
“It is time the commitments made to the world and Pakistan are fulfilled with sincerity and in good faith with concrete actions,” she concluded.
On Monday, some 100 people were martyred, and many others were injured in a suicide bombing at a mosque situated near Peshawar’s Police Lines.
The attacker was present in the front row during Zohr prayers when he exploded himself, killing dozens of faithful and injuring many others, who were treated at the Lady Reading Hospital of Peshawar.
