By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
Pakistan insisted on Thursday that militant group Daesh had no presence on its soil, in response to Afghan claims that hundreds of Pakistani Taliban fighters were now loyal to the Syria-based group.
“There is no presence of Daesh in Pakistan,” foreign office spokesman Qazi Khalilullah told a weekly press briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, adding that their presence could not be proved based on media reports.
“Pakistan is continuously cooperating with Afghanistan in the war against terrorists. The two countries can eliminate terrorism through joint efforts,” he said.
The Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Janan Mosazai said on Wednesday that hundreds of militants who had fled to Afghanistan from Pakistan, because of an ongoing anti-militant military operation, were operating under the flag of Daesh, rather than the Taliban.
He said the two countries needed to develop a joint strategy to counter the growth of Daesh, which mainly consists of former Taliban fighters who have regrouped under a new banner.
Though fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan have sworn allegiance to Daesh leader Abul Bakr al-Baghdadi, experts say they are not directly controlled by the Syria-based group. They have also struggled to gain a foothold in the region, facing opposition from the Taliban, U.S. drone strikes and local populations.
