Highlighting the threat posed by the 6,000-strong Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to Afghanistan’s neighbours, a top Pakistani diplomat told the UN Security Council Monday that the Kabul authorities were complicit in the conduct of the terrorist organization’s cross-border attacks against Pakistan.
Speaking in a debate on the situation in Afghanistan, Ambassador Munir Akam, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said the TTP was collaborating with other terrorist groups seeking to destabilize Pakistan and disrupt its economic cooperation with China, especially the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor), through their terrorist campaign.
“The TTP also receives external support and financing from our principal adversary,” he told the 15-member Council in an obvious reference to India.
The Pakistani envoy said that TTP and its affiliates have carried out a series of cross-border terrorist attacks on Pakistan’s soil, noting that the group has access to weapons originating in the stock left behind by foreign forces, which were led by the United States.
Opening the debate, Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan, said that the Taliban were failing to honour their international obligations of not allowing the Afghan territory to be used for cross-border attacks. In this regard, she took note of the continued activity by ISIL-KP and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and pointed to “legitimate questions about the de facto authorities’ ability or commitment to uphold their own guarantees that Afghanistan will not become a threat to other countries”.
In his remarks, Ambassador Akram warned that TTP, which has Taliban rulers’ patronage, was emerging as an umbrella organization for other terrorist groups, whose objectives, he said, were the destabilization of Afghanistan’s neighbours.
In fact, he said, the greatest threat to security and stability in Afghanistan – and the entire region, and indeed the world – arises from the over 20 terrorist organizations present in Afghanistan.
Noting that the Taliban government was not effective in fighting its challenger – Daesh (ISIL-K)- the Pakistani envoy referred to the numerous attacks claimed by Daesh in Afghanistan as well as its attacks in Kerman, Iran, Moscow, Russia and more recently, in Peshawar.
On its part, Ambassador Akram told delegates that Pakistan successfully foiled attempts by ISIL-K terrorists to cross over from Afghanistan into Pakistan and prevented its external operations branch from establishing itself in Pakistan, detaining several high-profile operatives involved in the Kerman and Crocus attacks.
“Among those detained was an individual named Muhammad Sharifullah, an Afghan, who plotted the Abbey Gate bombing during the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021.” (In his State of the Union address last week, President Donald Trump lauded Pakistan for arresting Sharifullah, the alleged plotter, of the Kabul airport bombing.)
While fighting Daesh, the Pakistani envoy said the Kabul authorities had failed to address the threat posed to the region and beyond by other terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda, the TTP and Baloch terrorists, including the BLA (Balochistan Liberation Organization) and its Majeed Brigade, which are present in Afghanistan.
Pakistan, he said, will continue to take all necessary measures to eliminate the terrorist threats to its national security in accordance with our right to self-defence under international law and in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council.
Referring to the human rights situation in Afghanistan, Ambassador Akram said that instead of fulfilling its earlier commitments, the Kabul government has doubled down on its restrictions against women and girls. “These are inconsistent with international norms and obligations and contrary to the laws and teachings of Islam,” he said, as was made clear by the Muslim world in the Islamabad Declaration on Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities, hosted by Pakistan.
In conclusion, Ambassador Akram said as neighbours the destinies of Afghanistan and Pakistan are intertwined.
“The people of Pakistan are deeply sensitive to the suffering of their Afghan brothers and sisters,” he said, adding, “We are steadfast in our commitment to support all possible efforts at the bilateral, regional and global level to achieve peace, stability and development in Afghanistan.”
“After 40 years of conflict, the people of Afghanistan deserve no less.”
