Pakistan to take up Taliban confession with Afghanistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

Revelations made by an under detention Pakistani Taliban member that Kabul provided support to the group for launching terror attacks on Pakistan will be taken up with Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani official said on Wednesday.

Pakistan army on Wednesday released a video of Ehsanullah Ehsan, a former spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan -- a consortium of several militant groups in the country -- who can be seen confessing to not only his role in terrorism in the country, but also alleged that Kabul provided bases and logistics to militants for carrying out terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.

Ehsan, who had reportedly surrendered to Pakistani security forces earlier this month, also accused the Afghan and Indian intelligence agencies of forging a nexus against Islamabad, and coordinating their attacks on Pakistan.

In remarks made to broadcaster Dunya TV on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz said: “His [Ehsan] confessional statement is crucial. Pakistan will raise [revelation made in] his confessions with the Afghan government.”

Army spokesman Maj.-Gen. Asif Ghafoor tweeted: “Ehsanullah Ehsan exposes hostile foreign agenda and their designs to destabilize Pakistan.”

Recent terrorist attacks in both countries have put a further strain on already icy relations between Kabul and Islamabad, which accuse each other of harboring militants.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan rejected all allegations.

Dawa Khan Menapal, Afghan deputy presidential spokesman, told Anadolu Agency the allegations leveled by the TTP spokesman in Pakistani army’s custody were baseless and mere propaganda.

"The world knows we have never harbored terrorists, never differentiated between the good and the bad terrorists, and never used terrorism as a tool for political gains; all these are associated with Pakistan," Menapal said.

He added that Afghanistan for decades had been the victim of terrorism and it was Pakistan that needed to “correct its path”, and work positively to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the region.