By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) – Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif claimed on Thursday that the Afghan interim administration had asked for money from Islamabad to relocate Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, a conglomerate of several militant groups, away from its border.

Speaking at the National Assembly, Asif accused the Afghan Taliban of supporting the TTP militants against Pakistan and providing safe havens inside their country.

“I went to Kabul along with DG ISI, and I told them to stop sponsoring and supporting TTP terrorists, remove them from your territory, and dismantle their sanctuaries,” according to the minister.

“They (Afghan Taliban officials) asked us to give them 10 billion rupees (around $35 million), and we will relocate them. We asked for a guarantee—what guarantee is there that after receiving the money, they would not return? They refused to give any guarantee,” he claimed.

Asif said Islamabad had not accepted the demand.

He was referring to his visit to Kabul in February 2023, along with Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, the then head of the country's premier intelligence agency, where he met with acting Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and other officials in Kabul.

Asif, while referring to the recent attacks on Pakistani forces in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said, “Enough is enough,” and that Pakistan would no longer tolerate such attacks.

At least 12 soldiers, including three senior officers, were killed over the past two days in the Orakzai and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, while security forces also killed 26 militants in the ensuing operations.

“Now, we are sending a delegation to Kabul in the next two or three days to deliver a clear message to them (interim administration) that we will not tolerate these attacks and those who shelter and support these terrorists anymore,” he said, adding: "The patience of the government of Pakistan and the armed forces has now reached its limit."

Pakistan has seen an increase in militant attacks in recent years. Islamabad accuses Kabul of failing to prevent TTP terrorists from carrying out attacks in Pakistan.

Afghanistan, however, denies the charges, reaffirming its commitment not to allow its soil for attacks on the neighboring country.

Earlier on Tuesday, at the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan, while referring to a recent joint statement by several countries that raised concerns about the presence of various militant groups in Afghanistan, acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said that no such group exists on his country’s soil.

“I wish to clearly state that no group exists in Afghanistan that uses our territory to create problems for other countries,” Muttaqi stressed.

He, however, added that Afghan intelligence agencies have indicated that ISIS (Daesh) and other terror groups have recently established training centers in other countries in the region, “which is a matter of concern for the Afghan government.”

Courtesy Anadolu Agency