*RAWALPINDI: Responding to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s accusations,Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday said thatAfghanistan’s allegations regarding return of injured and dead terroristsfrom Afghanistan to Pakistan is incorrect.*
Afghan president had alleged that hospitals in Pakistan are receiving andtreating Taliban insurgents who had been injured in recent fighting withAfghan forces in the southeastern Ghazni city.
“COAS reiterates that there is no support to any terrorist activity insideAfghanistan from Pakistan side. The alleged return of injured / deadterrorists from Ghazni is incorrect,” said a press statement issued byDirector General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General AsifGhafoor.
[image: Image may contain: text]
The statement adds that there are scores of Pakistanis working inAfghanistan in connection with various businesses who periodically fallvictim to terrorism acts alongside their Afghan brothers insideAfghanistan. Moreover, different factions of TTP, hiding in manysanctuaries inside Afghanistan under Afghan identities on becoming injuredor dead are transported into Pakistan for medical help.
“Terming such victims as terrorists is unfortunate,” say the statement.
The COAS reiterated that he stands by his commitment to Afghan Presidentfor ensuring all measures which could facilitate peace in Afghanistan.
“However, COAS re-emphasises that Afghanistan needs to look inward as theproblem resides inside Afghanistan. The solution thus remains on makingsubstantive progress on Afghan reconciliation efforts as well as on speedyimplementation of Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Stability(APAPPS),” the statement quotes COAS as saying.
Pakistan continues to support all initiatives aimed at bringing peace inAfghanistan as there cannot be enduring peace in Pakistan and stability inthe region if there is no peace in Afghanistan, the statement concludes.