Islamabad on Sunday rejected Kabul’s allegations that it seized light and heavy weapons smuggled from Pakistan into Afghanistan, demanding the Taliban-led government instead take action against militants that allegedly use their country’s soil for attacks.
The response from Pakistan’s information ministry came after Mawlawi Wahidullah Mohammadi, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s 201st Khalid bin Waleed Corps, said in a video message on Sunday that intelligence forces had seized 74 weapons in the country’s eastern zone. Mohammadi said some of these weapons were smuggled from Pakistan into the country for “acts of sabotage.”
“The Afghan Taliban regime’s claim that weapons are being smuggled from Pakistan into Afghanistan for so-called ‘subversive activities’ is frivolous, baseless and contrary to established facts,” Pakistan’s information ministry said.
The ministry said Afghanistan is “awash” with large quantities of weapons and military equipment abandoned by US and coalition forces when they left Afghanistan in 2021, in addition to large stocks of Soviet-era weaponry.
“Attempts to manufacture a Pakistani connection to such weapons seems designed to divert international attention from the far more serious and documented concern: terrorist groups continue to find space, facilitation and operational freedom on Afghan soil to plan, support and execute attacks inside Pakistan,” it added.
It urged the Afghan government to address the presence of “terrorist sanctuaries” within its territory and fulfill ensure that the country’s soil is not used for militant attacks against Pakistan or other countries.
Pakistan blames Afghanistan’s government for supporting militant attacks against its citizens and law enforcers. Afghanistan denies the allegations and urges Pakistan to resolve its security challenges internally.
Ties between the two nations remain stranded as Pakistan faces a surge in militancy in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan.
Source: Arab News
