Terrorist groups based in Pakistan are threatening Afghanistan, other countries in region: Afghan NSA

National Security Advisor of Afghanistan, Mohammad Hanif Atmar has alleged that terrorist groups based in Pakistan are threatening Afghanistan and other countries in the region.

Speaking at the 19th Asian Security Conference, Atmar said "We share the region with Pakistan, which has the highest concentration of terrorists anywhere,"

Condemning the recent attacks in Pakistan in which many people were killed, Atmar clarified that there is no distinction between good and bad terrorist.

He said terrorism is growing its capabilities and presence in Afghanistan-Pakistan region despite international investment in counter terrorism.

Asserting that Afghanistan considers Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed as enemies, Atmar said his country hopes that Pakistan will never allow safe havens to them.

"Success against terrorist in Afghanistan is important for security of the region," he said.

Pointing that Afghanistan and Pakistan have a common enemy, Atmar said unfortunately the two countries do not have a common strategy to defeat them.

"We are no longer talking of a lone group. There is a symbiotic relation between the economics & geopolitics of the region," he said.

20 out of 98 UN designated terrorist outfits are in this region

Atmar said Pakistanis have given them a list of 76 terrorists believed to be hiding in Afghan, adding that Kabul has also given them a list of terrorist hiding in there region.

He asked both countries to act on each other's lists and have a third party to verify it.

"There is a symbiotic access of three critical actors, violent extremists, criminal ecology and state sponsor," he said.

"Drug industry and criminal economy produces such economy that they can finance state and non state actors," he added.

Atmar stated that war in Afghanistan is not a civil war, it is a drug war, state to state civil war.

He said it is not appropriate to associate terrorism with Islam as terror ideology has nothing to do with Islam.