WASHINGTON: There is no indication that the Afghan refugees in Pakistan or those living along the border with Afghanistan are guilty of acts of terrorism, the White House has said after Islamabad accused them of creating instability.
The remarks by White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby came two days after Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that allowing Afghan refugees to settle in Pakistan was a grave mistake amid a spike in terrorist attacks on the country.
“The current situation has raised significant concerns about the facilities provided to the Afghan refugees,” Asif said, adding Pakistan has suffered the consequences of sheltering and hosting the Afghan refugees. He also accused Afghan nationals involved in terrorist activities.
“(We are) seeing no indication that Afghan refugees in Pakistan or along that border are guilty of acts of terrorism,” Kirby told reporters at a news conference here on Monday.
Kirby said the US is grateful to Pakistan for the incredible generosity that they have extended to so many Afghans who are just looking for a safe and secure place to be.
“And we’ll continue to work with Pakistan as we have on their legitimate terrorism threats and their challenges in counterterrorism,” he said.
“I mean the President’s been clear that we’re going to take seriously our ability to improve our over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability, and we’ll use it effectively as we need to use it,” Kirby said in response to a question.
Asif on Saturday said: the previous government led by Imran Khan made serious errors during its tenure, committing crimes against the state.
“Over 300,000 people have been brought here, with 500,000 Afghan migrants already present,” he said.
The Pakistan Army’s top brass on Monday said that sanctuaries and latest weapons available to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists in a “neighbouring country” is one of the reasons behind the spike in recent terrorist attacks, in a veiled reference to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
During the 258th Corps Commanders’ Conference presided over by Army chief General Asim Munir, the top generals also vowed to fully support the strategic initiatives of the government for the revival of the economy by providing all possible technical and management assistance for the overall well-being of the people of Pakistan.
“The sanctuaries and liberty of action available to the terrorists of proscribed TTP and other groups of that ilk in a neighbouring country and availability of latest weapons to the terrorists were noted as major reasons impacting the security of Pakistan,” the army said in a statement.
Though not named, the neighbouring country was Afghanistan which was blamed by Pakistan last week for tolerating the outlawed TTP on its soil.