Pak provides sanctuary, funding to Afghan terrorists: Activist

An Afghan human rights activist on Wednesday accused the Pakistan Army and intelligence agency ISI of providing institutional support to terrorist groups operating in his country.

Speaking during the 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), activist Bilal Sarway called the Afghan insurgent group Haqqani Network as the "veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, holding the agency "responsible for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Kabul".

"Pakistan-sponsored terrorism has resulted in the deaths of the Afghan military personnel, international aid workers, civilians, children, and very often entire families have vanished due to these attacks," he said.

Sarway said that the network's leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also the deputy head of operations for the Taliban, enjoys institution support, sanctuary, and financial support from the Pakistani Army and the intelligence agency.

"Our cities, schools, clinics, funerals, and weddings have been targeted in these brutal terrorist attacks. The leader of the Haqqani network is the deputy head of operations for the Taliban. He enjoys institution support, sanctuary, and financial support from the Pakistani Army and the intelligence agency," the activist said.

The Haqqani Network ideologically aligns with the Taliban, a group that has claimed responsibility for some of the most heinous terror attacks in Afghanistan. The United States has designated the Haqqani Network as a terrorist organisation, and in 2015, Pakistan also banned it as part of its National Action Plan.

Sarway said that in major Pakistani cities, there are madrasas where fighters are recruited, trained, and hate speeches against Afghanistan are prevalent, and "funding is publicly raised in the name of jihad or holy war".