Pakistan Urges Kabul to Eliminate Terror Networks After Deadly Kohat Attack

Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting Atta Tarar has said the Kohat attack was carried out by militants with roots in Afghanistan, stressing that a condemnation of the attack by the Afghan Foreign Ministry was not enough.

Speaking to Dunya TV on Saturday evening, the Information Minister condemned the terrorist attack in Kohat and expressed serious concern over the use of Afghan territory by terrorist groups.

The minister said terrorism had no religion or justification, while condemning remarks by a spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban that allegedly threatened Pakistan with serious consequences.

Atta Tarar said the presence of terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan posed a direct threat to Pakistan’s security, calling on the Afghan Taliban to eliminate terrorist networks rather than avoid responsibility.

“Instead of blaming Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban should eliminate terrorist networks,” the ministry said, adding that the Afghan interim government must fulfil its counterterrorism responsibilities under the Doha Agreement.

The minister said the Afghan Foreign Ministry’s condemnation of the Kohat attack was not sufficient, stressing that the Afghan government must translate verbal expressions of sympathy into concrete and verifiable actions.

“We will never tolerate those who put the lives of our people at risk in the name of negotiations,” the ministry said.

Pakistan, the ministry added, would take all necessary steps under international law to protect its people and sovereignty.

It further said Pakistan had the resolve and capability to eliminate terrorist threats from wherever they emerge, while calling on the international community to pressure the Afghan Taliban to take decisive action before the threat spreads across the region.