The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday welcomed a resolution by Afghan scholars opposing the use of their soil for cross-border attacks against other countries.
Afghan media has reported that over 1,000 Afghan clerics have adopted a resolution to discourage the flow of militancy from their soil to neighboring states. In case of violations, the “Islamic Emirate has the right to take necessary measures against them,” it said, recalling that Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had not permitted any Afghan national “to travel abroad for military activity, so if anyone violates this … The Islamic Emirate must take necessary measures to prevent such people.”
The resolution was passed by independent clerics, without any formal endorsement from the Taliban government. It does not explicitly name Pakistan or any other country. It says that whoever “conducts military operations beyond Afghanistan’s borders would be considered a rebel against the state,” adding this would be a punishable offense.
In his weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi described the resolution as a “positive development.” However, he added, similar commitments have not been honored by the Afghan Taliban regime previously. Reiterating Islamabad’s demand for written assurances from Kabul that its soil would not be used by terrorist groups to launch attacks inside Pakistan, he said the resolution did not meet this requirement.
“If the leadership of the Afghan Taliban regime or certain segments of Afghan society realize the gravity of the matter that their soil is being used not just by the banned TTP/FAK/FAH but also by their own nationals to perpetrate terrorism in Pakistan, such realization is positive,” he said. “One important aspect is that commitments made in the past by the Afghan Taliban regime have not been fulfilled. This is exactly why, during the talks held with the mediation efforts of our brotherly countries, Pakistan insisted on written assurances from the Afghan side,” he added.
He reiterated that Islamabad valued the well-being of the Afghan people and was prepared to offer humanitarian support whenever needed. Islamabad and Kabul currently have an uneasy truce, with the former maintaining bilateral ties cannot improve so long as Afghan soil continues to be used to foment terrorism inside Pakistan.
Extradition treaty
During his briefing, the spokesperson also clarified that there is no formal extradition treaty between Pakistan and the United Kingdom. Earlier this month, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi warned that the government is endeavoring to extradite former special assistant to the prime minister Mirza Shahzad Akbar and Major Adil Raja (ret.) from the U.K. over their connection to separate cases.
However, said Andrabi, extradition cases could be processed on a case-to-case basis.