Pakistan Urges Taliban to Curb ‘Terrorist Elements’ as Tensions Rise
Pakistan’s prime minister has again called on the Taliban administration to curb the activity of “terrorist elements,” a request he said has been repeated but still not taken seriously by the other side.
Shehbaz Sharif said at a Pakistan cabinet meeting on Sunday, 19 October, that Islamabad had shared the issue with the Taliban administration many times, but, he said, “they still do not understand.”
In another part of his remarks, the Pakistani prime minister referred to insecurity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, saying that ordinary citizens, police and security forces, children and mothers are being killed in these incidents. He described the security situation in the two provinces as “heartbreaking.”
According to Pakistani officials, tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban administration have steadily increased over the past year, particularly over the activity of armed groups, including Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban administration of sheltering members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in Afghanistan and allowing them to use Afghan soil to plan and carry out attacks in Pakistan. The Taliban administration denies the accusations, saying insecurity and the activity of armed groups in Pakistan are that country’s internal matter.
The dispute also spilled into the Moscow Format meeting on Afghanistan on 13 October, which ended without a joint statement. Russia’s representative said differences between the Taliban and Pakistani delegations prevented agreement on the final text. Pakistan had sought an explicit reference to “terrorism emanating from Afghan soil,” but the Taliban delegation opposed including Afghanistan in such a framework.
