Pakistan should stop ‘harboring’ Taliban: Sediqi

KABUL (Pajhwok): Deputy Interior Minister Seddiq Sediqi in response to Pakistan’s criticism on Afghanistan policy on Thursday said that the neighboring country should close terrorist centers and stop support to them.

A day earlier, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in reaction to Afghan National Security Advisor (NSA) HamdullahMohib’s statements, said the Afghan president should make specific his demands from Pakistan.

A few days back, Mohib during his trip to eastern Nangarhar province criticized Pakistan’s policy towards Afghanistan.

Three days ago, Qureshi while addressing the Pakistani parliament, said that Kabul was seeking Islamabad’s support on the one hand while criticizing the country on the other.He asked the Afghan president to specify his demands from Pakistan.

Former presidential spokesman and current deputy interior minister, SeddiqSediqi in response to Qureshi’s remarks, in a tweet said, “The Afghans want from Pakistan to shut down Taliban Quetta Shura, sever ties, close Taliban’s sanctuaries & training madrasas, arrest their leaders & supporters in Pakistan, freeze Taliban’s assets&resources in Pakistan, and pursue a state to state relations”.

On the other hand, Mohsin Dawar, a member of PashtonTahaffuz Movement (PTM), a Pasthtun human rights advocacy movement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said, “Qureshi complains that the Afghan government doubts their efforts for peace, but the fact is that wherever there is a fire, there is a smoke.”

He said that the Pakistani government claimed it was playing a positive role in the Afghan peace process, but it had hidden that role from people and the parliament.

“What type of role Pakistan plays when Taliban’s Quetta Council, Peshawar Council and other councils are obviously operating here,” he argued.

Dawar said that the problem of terrorism would not be solved or security improved until Pakistan followed a clear policy towards Afghanistan.

Mds/ma