Khawaja Asif blasts Afghanistan after surge in TTP terror attacks

• Asif says 5-6 million Afghans sought asylum in Pakistan in last 4-5 decades.
• Pakistan will use all its resources to protect its land and citizens: defence minister.
• Tough decisions will have to be made to resolve crisis facing country, says defence analyst.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif Saturday slammed Afghanistan for not "fulfilling its neighbourly duty" and failing to abide by the Doha agreement.

Taking to Twitter, the defence minter wrote: "50/60 lakh Afghans have sought asylum in Pakistan over the last 40/50 years with all rights.

On the contrary, the terrorists who shed the blood of Pakistanis have safe havens on Afghan soil."

He further wrote that the situation could not continue any longer and expressed his resolve to protect the country.

"Pakistan will use all its resources to protect its land and citizens, Insha Allah."

The defence minister's remarks came a day after the Pakistan Army expressed serious concerns about safe havens and liberty of action available to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir on Friday visited Quetta Garrison, where he was briefed on the recent terrorist attack in Zhob in which nine soldiers embraced martyrdom.

Following his visit, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement it is expected that the interim Afghan government would not allow the use of its soil to perpetrate terror against any country, in the real sense and in line with commitments made in the Doha agreement.

Why is Afghanistan failing to curb terrorism?

Speaking to Geo News, Defence Analyst Lt Gen (r) Naeem Khalid Lodhi advised caution against pointing fingers towards Afghanistan.

"Instead of accusing Afghanistan directly, we should try to cooperate and figure out who is behind this and what powers are trying to create rifts between the two countries."

He added that several countries and agencies were hostile to Pakistan's closeness with Afghanistan, Iran and China.

Moreover, responding to Lodhi, another defence analyst, Brigadier (r) Haris Nawaz, said that it was obvious who did not want Pakistan to have good relations with the countries mentioned.

We know who does not want this. America and India do not want us to prosper, he said, adding: "This is why they have left their weapons there [in Afghanistan] when they left".

He further said tough decisions would have to be made to resolve the crisis facing the country.