ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Foreign Office has revealed that Pakistan has handedover at least 27 terrorists belonging to Afghan Taliban and Haqqani networkto Afghanistan to show it’s sincerity to the Afghan war against terrorism.
However despite this fact the blame game from the Afghan side is continuingand after every terrorism incident in Afghanistan, Afghan intelligence andgovernment officials leave no stone unturn to blame Pakistan.
Spokesperson for the Foreign Office, Dr. Mohammad Faisal, said on Tuesdaythat Pakistan has handed over 27 individuals, who were suspected ofbelonging to Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA) and Haqqani Network (HN),to Afghanistan in November 2017.
The statement by the FO spokesperson on social media comes after Pakistanhad earlier rejected “knee-jerk allegations” by some Afghan circles afterthe attack on a hotel in Kabul and subsequent attacks in the Afghancapital, including an ambulance bomb which killed more than 100 people.
Faisal also said that Pakistan has continued to push any suspected TTA andHN elements to prevent them from using Pakistani soil for terroristactivity in Afghanistan.
Elaborating on the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan, the FO spokespersonsaid the country has lost 75,000 civilians and 6,000 soldiers during thewar.
He added the country’s armed forces has one of the highestofficer-to-soldier casualty rateglobally and has suffered economic lossesworth $123 billion.
Earlier in January,the United States announced that it was suspending thetransfer of military equipment and security-related funds to Pakistan.
The suspension of security assistance to Islamabad came after Washingtonaccused Pakistan of playing a “double game” on fighting terrorism andwarned Islamabad it would have to do more if it wanted to maintain US aid.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley had also confirmed thatWashington would withhold $255 million in assistance to Pakistan.
Haley’s statement followed an angry tweet from Trump that the US had beenrewarded with “nothing but lies and deceit” for giving Pakistan billions inaid.
In August, Trump concluded a months-long review of America’s strategy towin the brutal war in Afghanistan — now entering its 17th year — and calledfor an increase in the tempo and intensity of strikes against the Taliban.
The aim was to persuade some Taliban factions to enter talks with thegovernment in Kabul.
This month’s spate of bombings and Trump’s comments indicate that the endgame may be further away than the White House would like.