UNITED NATIONS, Sep 18 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Wednesday expressed his serious concern over the series of cross-border terrorist attacks from Afghanistan against Pakistan, and asked the Taliban-ruled country to stop those incursions.
“We are particularly worried with the fact that there is a penetration of terrorists from Afghanistan into Pakistan,” he said in response to a question from APP correspondent at a crowded press conference ahead of next week’s high-level debate at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
The UN chief said that those terrorists attack were “creating many innocent victims and being a threat to Pakistani security”.
He was asked how does the UN plan to respond to the serious threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, especially from Da’esh and TTP, which are affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
The secretary-general replied, “So one of the things that is absolutely central is that Afghanistan control it’s territory and doesn’t allow terrorist groups from any other country to operate from Afghanistan.”
A recent United Nations report said that the TTP is “the largest terrorist group” in Afghanistan and receives growing support from that country’s Taliban rulers to conduct cross-border attacks in Pakistan.
The UN sanctions monitoring team released the assessment in July amid a surge in TTP-led terror attacks against Pakistani security forces and civilians, killing hundreds of them recently.
“TTP continues to operate at a significant scale in Afghanistan and to conduct terrorist operations into Pakistan from there, often utilizing Afghans,” the report read. It noted that the globally designated terrorist group is operating in Afghanistan with an estimated strength of 6,000-6,500 fighters.
“Further, the Taliban have proved unable or unwilling to manage the threat from Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), whose attacks into Pakistan have intensified,” the document said. “Taliban’s support to TTP also appears to have increased.”
“The Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group: the bonds are close, and the debt owed to TTP is significant,” the UN report said.
The international forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, clearing the way for the Taliban to reclaim power from the then US-backed Afghan government in Kabul.
The UN report said regional al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan, who have long-term ties to the Taliban, are assisting TTP in conducting high-profile terrorist activities inside Pakistan.
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