Pakistan urges UN to act against Afghan-based terrorism

• UN extends Afghanistan mission for another year.
• Taliban blamed for failing to tackle terror groups.
• Pakistan highlights evidence of Afghan-based 'handlers'.

NEW YORK: Pakistan has urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to prioritise action against terrorism within or originating from Afghanistan.

The 15-member council unanimously adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for another year. The initial draft of this resolution was prepared and submitted by China and Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Munir Akram said in his address that the Taliban government has not been effective in eliminating Daesh and has tolerated several other terrorist groups, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and its Majeed Brigade, which have been involved in cross-border attacks against Pakistan.

Akram highlighted last week’s attack on a passenger train in Balochistan by the BLA and Majeed Brigade, where terrorists took hundreds of passengers hostage and killed 25 innocent civilians.

He informed the UNSC that the attackers maintained continuous contact with their ‘handlers’ in Afghanistan during the assault, where the attack was planned and directed. He asserted that there is evidence indicating that the attack was initiated and funded by Pakistan’s primary adversary through its Afghan proxies.

Akram further added that these terrorist attacks are clearly aimed at destabilising Pakistan and, in particular, disrupting Pakistan’s cooperation with China and hindering progress on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Pakistan has lodged a strong protest with Afghanistan over the Jaffar Express hijacking and killing of innocent passengers, The News reported.

The Taliban regime has been asked to explain the contacts of terrorists, who perpetrated the heinous offence, with their handlers in Afghanistan.

Officially, no word has been given by the Foreign Office but The News came to know through highly placed sources of the Foreign Office that Sardar Ahmad Shekib, the Taliban’s Chargé D’affaires (CdA) in Islamabad, was summoned by the Foreign Office the other day to lodge a strong protest and use of Afghan soil for the unpardonable offence.

Sardar Shekib was reminded that the Taliban had given an international assurance that they wouldn’t allow the use of Afghan soil against Pakistan, and the assurance was given in Doha Agreement.

The Afghan CdA was told that the outfit that had been declared as a terrorist organisation by the world body had used the Afghan soil for their heinous acts.