KABUL (Pajhwok): Kabul has denied reports that claim Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Massoud Ahzar is in Afghanistan.
According to Pakistan’s Geo TV, Islamabad has asked Kabul in an official letter to arrest Azhar because he is in Afghanistan, but the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected on Wednesday Azhar was in Afghanistan.
Geo reported that Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs had asked the caretaker government of Afghanistan in Kabul to find and arrest Maulana Massoud Azhar.
The TV quoted a senior official of the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the condition of anonymity, as saying that they had requested in a letter the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find the hideout of Massoud Azhar and arrest him because Islamabad believes he is in Afghanistan.
The Afghan government is told in the letter that Azhar may be somwhere in Nangarhar or Kunar province.
However, Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan rejects the media reports that Massoud Azhar, the leader of the Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohammed group, has taken refuge in the territory of Afghanistan. We want to make it clear that the Islamic emirate does not allow armed opponents of any country to operate in its territory."
He asked all parties to refrain from baseless accusations without evidence or documents as such media accusations could have a negative impact on bilateral ties.
ma
