Pakistan blames Kabul for Afghans' expulsion: ‘Involved in terrorism’

Afghanistan's failure to stop Pakistani militants operating from its soil was to blame for Islamabad expelling hundreds of thousands of Afghan migrants, Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said Wednesday.

Afghans were also deeply involved in suicide attacks and other clashes with Pakistan forces, Kakar told a news conference, adding there had been a huge rise in security incidents since the Taliban's return to power in Kabul in 2021.

More than 250,000 people have crossed from Pakistan to Afghanistan since an October ultimatum given to the 1.7 million Afghans Islamabad said were living illegally in the country.

Pakistan says most have left voluntarily, but Kabul insists the majority have been forcibly repatriated since the November 1 deadline.

"The majority of these illegal immigrants in Pakistan are of Afghan origin," Kakar said.

"A significant portion of those involved in criminal and terrorist activities are among these illegal immigrants."

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Kakar said there had been a 60 percent increase in terror incidents in Pakistan since the Taliban took power in August 2021, resulting in 2,267 deaths.

While he blamed Pakistan's home-grown Taliban movement for the majority of incidents, he said they were using bases in Afghanistan and Afghans were also involved.

"Over these years 15 Afghan nationals were involved in suicide attacks and, apart from that, 64 Afghans were killed in clashes with Pakistan law enforcement departments during operations against militancy," he said.

He said no action had been taken, despite Pakistan frequently complaining to Afghanistan's rulers.

"In some cases, there was even evidence indicating their support for these terrorists," he added.

Afghanistan's Taliban government insisted again Wednesday that the country's soil was not being used by militants to stage attacks on other countries, and said Pakistan's security problems were a domestic affair.

"Regarding today's claims of the caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, we would like to say that the way the Islamic Emirate wants peace and stability in Afghanistan, it wants peace in Pakistan as well," said spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, using the Taliban's formal name for Afghanistan.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is not responsible for maintaining peace in Pakistan. They should solve their own domestic problems on their own and not blame Afghanistan for their failures."

Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan in recent decades, fleeing a series of violent conflicts, including an estimated 600,000 since the Taliban ousted the US-backed government and imposed its harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

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