Pakistan warns of terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan

UNITED NATIONS: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday expressed serious concerns over different terrorists groups operating from Afghanistan, warning that they posed “a grave threat to regional and international peace and security”.

“Pakistan is seriously concerned over the presence of more than two dozen terrorist groups inside Afghanistan, particularly the TTP, BLA, Majeed Brigade and ETIM,” Dar, who holds the portfolio of foreign minister, told the OIC Contact Group on Afghanistan.

He added that these groups are “actively collaborating with Al-Qaeda and posing a grave threat to regional and international peace and security”.

Read more: China for eradicating breeding ground for terrorism

Especially mentioning the ETIM, which is a direct threat to China, is a very significant development as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last month called for deepening law enforcement and security cooperation, strengthening the fight against transnational terrorist activities, and eradicating the breeding ground for terrorism.

Earlier this month, China and Pakistan decided to deepen security and defence cooperation and work to crack down on terrorism under a joint action plan agreed by the two countries.

Read more: China, Pakistan will work to crack down on terrorism

The plan came as Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited China and held meetings with Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

THE AFGHAN FAILURE

Afghanistan has failed to act against the terrorist outfits despite Pakistan’s repeated reminders. In this context, Dar also stressed the need for a “concrete and verifiable action”.

“For meaningful progress across all priority pillars, the Afghan interim authorities must take concrete and verifiable action to prevent their soil from being used for terrorism against its neighboring countries, particularly Pakistan.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had said after the recent South Waziristan attack that Afghanistan was told to make a choice between Pakistan and Khawarij — the term used for TTP and other likeminded terrorist organisations.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Meanwhile, the deputy prime minister also talked about another dimension: use of social media to propagate extremism and terrorism.

He said, “Digital platforms and social media are also being used by these terrorist groups for propaganda and incitement to violence. This cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.”

Previously, Shehbaz stressed the need for crushing the anti-state “venomous propaganda” launched through social media as he described rooting out the evil of terrorism from Pakistan as a national duty.