Pakistan raises concern over attacks from Afghanistan terror sanctuaries

Pakistan summoned the Afghan Deputy Head of Mission to the Foreign Office to convey its concern over continuing attacks by terrorist outfit Jamaat-ul-Ahrar from its sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.

According to a press release from the Pakistan's Foreign Office, Afghan Deputy Head of Mission (DHM) Syed Abdul Nasir Yousafi was called in to the Foreign Office on Tuesday by United Nations and European Commission (UN&EC) Additional Secretary Tasnim Aslam.

"[The] attention of the DHM was also drawn to earlier actionable intelligence shared by our authorities with the Afghan side. Afghanistan was urged to take urgent measures to eliminate the terrorists and their sanctuaries, financiers, and handlers operating from its territory," according to the press release.

Aslam informed Yousafi that Afghan authorities had been informed "earlier" about "actionable intelligence" where Pakistan pressed Afghanistan "to take urgent measures to eliminate the terrorists and their sanctuaries, financiers and [facilitators] operating from its territory," the release said.

The Foreign Office said an aide-memoire containing details of the terrorist attacks and supporting information was also shared with Yousafi, Geo TV reported on Wednesday.

The development came two days after a deadly bombing rocked Lahore, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens more.

The responsibility of the attack was claimed by the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

In 2016, the US added the Jamaat-ur-Ahrar to its list of global terrorists, triggering sanctions against the terrorist group which has staged multiple attacks on civilians, religious minorities and soldiers in Pakistan.

--IANS

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