US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday said that Washington has “heard” Pakistan’s concerns about terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and if “there’s a productive role for us to play, we would play it”.
Rubio’s statement came in response to a question about tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan at a press talks in Atlanta.
“Pakistan is concerned about terrorist attacks that are being sponsored from the territory of Afghanistan. They feel as if the Taliban have not done enough to constrain those attacks, and they have taken action against it.
“We obviously have heard those concerns on their part. We obviously don’t want them to be targeted for terrorism. So if there’s a productive role for us to play, we would play it,” Rubio said.
Mentioning that the US did not “necessarily [have] the closest relationship” with the Afghan Taliban, Rubio added: “We’ve heard the concerns that Pakistan has raised and we’ve seen some of those attacks that they point to. We’re against terrorism no matter where it emanates from and who it targets.”
Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration in Kabul to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), that it says are used for attacks in Pakistan.
For their part, the Afghan Taliban have avoided taking a categorical position on the TTP and other groups, while rejecting Islamabad’s allegations that Afghanistan is being used as a base for attacks against Pakistan.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s information ministry rebuked the Afghan Taliban’s stance on the ongoing conflict between the two countries, assailing its “persistent refusal to address terrorism” emanating from Afghanistan’s soil.
The statement came in response to remarks made by Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who blamed Islamabad’s “wrong policies” for preventing a resolution to the conflict and insisted Kabul was not the cause of counterterrorism issues.
In its response, the information ministry said the Afghan spokesman’s remarks expose the “regime’s deeply misguided approach and unwillingness to confront the root cause of deteriorating relations with Pakistan”.
“The Taliban leadership continues to blame Islamabad’s policies while conveniently ignoring the single most important issue poisoning bilateral relations: its persistent failure to address terrorism emanating from Afghan soil,” it added.
Islamabad reiterated that the “Taliban regime’s persistent refusal to address terrorism remains the principal obstacle to normal relations”.
Multiple rounds of talks between the two sides last year, facilitated by Qatar and Turkiye, failed to bring about any workable solution, with the Pakistani government saying the Taliban officials gave no assurances on the key issues. Efforts this year made with China’s involvement also resulted in no breakthrough.
Russia, the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban government, has also recently renewed its offer to facilitate a settlement if both sides request its involvement.
Moscow’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, had last month made this suggestion after the latest round of the Moscow Format consultations on Oct 5 ended without a joint communiqué because of differences between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban delegations over references to terrorist networks operating from Afghanistan.
When asked about it during a weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan had said talks with Afghanistan could not be unconditional. He also rejected suggestions that Islamabad was unwilling to engage with its neighbour, saying it would welcome sincere efforts by friendly countries to help resolve the dispute.
He further stated: “At present, I am not aware of any separate, formal Russian mediation initiative being under discussion.”
Meanwhile, intermittent skirmishes at the border continue.
September witnessed yet another bout of conflict between the two neighbours, with Pakistan carrying out calibrated airstrikes in the border region in response to terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Those skirmishes continued in October with Pakistani security forces responding to unprovoked fire from the Afghan side along the border in Kurram and Lower South Waziristan’s Angoor Adda, according to security sources.
