13 January 2017•Update: 14 January 2017
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
Pakistan has rejected Afghanistan’s latest allegations of providing safe havens to terrorists following an attack in the Afghan province of Kandahar that killed several people, including officials from the gulf country, U.A.E.
In a statement released on Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees rebuffed Kabul’s claims, which were also backed by the U.S., and reiterated that Islamabad “does not allow its territory to be used for attacks against any other country.”
Zakaria said: “Pakistan’s contribution to the international community’s fight against terrorism and the sacrifices that we rendered have been acknowledged by the world, including the U.S. at various levels of their leadership, European Union and others.”
Pakistan lost thousands of its citizens and suffered $100 billion in economic losses due to terrorism, he added.
He accused Afghanistan of hosting several terrorist organizations due to instability, which in turn created space for terrorist groups such as the Haqqani Network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Daesh, al-Qaeda and Jamaat-ul-Ahraar etc.
“It is, therefore, not appropriate to blame others for the adversities due to the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. The claims regarding safe havens are, therefore, more of a rhetoric than anything else,” he added.
He also pointed fingers at Afghan and Indian intelligence agencies for the situation in Afghanistan. “The activities of Indian [intelligence agency] RAW and [Afghan intelligence agency] NDS nexus remains a matter of deep concern to Pakistan,” he said.
He said Islamabad remained committed to peace efforts in Afghanistan.
A suspected suicide blast at a state guesthouse in Kandahar on Tuesday left 11 people dead, including some officials from the U.A.E., who were reportedly visiting Afghanistan to invest in humanitarian projects.
On Wednesday, Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar hinted at Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the Kandahar attack, saying the explosives used in the attack had been brought into Afghanistan from beyond its borders.
“This is an act of enemy which involves the help of foreign hands. The materials used in the attack were not produced in Afghanistan,” Atmar said, according to Tolo News.
Also, on Wednesday, Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq blamed the Haqqani network and the Pakistani military's ISI intelligence agency for the attack.
On Thursday, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the Kandahar attack had been planned by terrorists based in Pakistan.
"ANDSF [Afghan National Defense Security Forces] update on Kandahar terrorist attack: Taliban Quetta Shura [a high-level council within the militant group said to be based in Pakistan] behind the attack, it was planned in Mawlawi Ahmad in Chaman, Quetta [ in Pakistan]," he tweeted.
The Taliban had claimed responsibility for separate blasts in the capital Kabul near the parliament on but denied its involvement in the Kandahar attack.
This is not the first time Kabul or Islamabad have accused each other of supporting terrorist groups. While Islamabad believes that certain terrorist groups backed allegedly by Indian and Afghan intelligence are trying to sabotage Pakistan, especially its new multi-billion-dollar trade corridor with China, Kabul is convinced the Afghan Taliban leadership is being hosted by military, which supposedly uses it to pile pressure on the present Afghan government.
