Settlement of Afghan refugees in Pakistan was a serious mistake, Defense Minister

Islamabad: The Defense Minister has expressed his disappointment over the use of Afghanistan’s territory by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) in recent violent incidents, saying that allowing Afghan refugees to settle in Pakistan was a serious mistake.

Speaking at the Express News program center stage, Khawaja Asif said that the current situation has raised serious concerns about the facilities being provided to Afghan refugees. Pakistan has suffered the consequences of harboring and hosting Afghan refugees before.

He said that we are well aware of the existence of terrorist safe havens and their movement inside Afghanistan, the PTI government committed serious mistakes during its rule, committed crimes against the state and three lakh More than 500,000 people were resettled here while 500,000 Afghan migrants were already in Pakistan.

Why is the Afghan government not implementing the Doha agreement?#ExpressNews #Zhob @KhawajaMAsif pic.twitter.com/njuzWNht3O

— Express News (@ExpressNewsPK) July 15, 2023

The Minister of Defense said, ‘What have we done in the last four years? Now we should find a solution to the problem of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The Defense Minister said that in the past, a terrorist involved in a suicide attack was sitting here as an attendant of a patient, now Afghan citizens in Pakistan are also involved in such incidents which is unacceptable.

read more: Afghanistan is not fulfilling its right to be a brotherly neighboring country, Defense Minister

He revealed that during a visit to Kabul with a delegation, he had also expressed concern over these incidents of terrorism in front of the Afghan Taliban and the government.

The Defense Minister said that the Afghan government also offered us some suggestions while their response to our concerns and concerns was not negative, but unfortunately these incidents have not stopped in Pakistan, we need to find an immediate solution to this issue because it is our responsibility. is not acceptable. We have various options available, and Kabul should negotiate with us to resolve these issues.”

The refugees from Afghanistan are involved in crimes in Pakistan, Khawaja Asif #ExpressNews #BreakingNews #Khawajaasif pic.twitter.com/ikZXK994u8

— Express News (@ExpressNewsPK) July 15, 2023

He said that there is no communal strife in Pakistan, but this is being misrepresented. In the past, we have paid a heavy price due to communalism. The world needs to see that we are 35 years old. They are cooperating with them.

Earlier, in a statement on social media, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said that Afghanistan is not abiding by the Doha Agreement and is not fulfilling its right to be a neighboring and brotherly country. Places are available.

The federal minister’s comments followed the attacks in Balochistan’s Zhob and Sui districts, in which at least 12 security personnel were martyred.

A day earlier, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir had issued a stern warning to the Afghan Taliban’s interim government over the cross-border presence of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), saying that Pakistan would now respond to the recent terrorist attacks. An effective response will be given and there is serious concern over the safe havens and free activities of the outlawed TTP in Afghanistan.

A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that “Pakistan’s armed forces have serious concerns about the safe havens and freedom of action available to the TTP in Afghanistan.” .

The army chief was quoted as saying that ‘it is expected that the Transitional Afghan Government will not allow its territory to be used for terrorism against any country in the true sense and in accordance with the commitments made in the Doha Agreement’.

read more: ISPR has serious concerns over safe havens and free activities of TTP in Afghanistan

General Asim Munir had said that Afghan citizens were involved in recent acts of terrorism in Pakistan. The army chief said that the involvement of Afghan nationals in terrorist activities in Pakistan is another major concern that needs to be addressed. He warned that “such attacks are intolerable and Pakistan’s security forces will give an effective response”.

He further said that operations against terrorists will continue unabated and the armed forces will not rest until the menace of terrorism is eradicated from the country. The army chief’s statement expressed Pakistan’s disappointment over the lack of cooperation from the Afghan Taliban to counter the TTP threat.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban claimed in a recent statement that the interim government is not allowing its territory to be used against any country and that it is Pakistan’s problem to deal with the TTP.