Taliban leaders' presence in Pakistan violates Afghanistan's national sovereignty, says Afghan Foreign Ministry
Dec 25, 2020
Kabul [Afghanistan], December 25 : After a series of videos surfaced showing Taliban leaders continuing their terror activities in Pakistan, Afghanistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday said that the presence of Taliban leaders in Pakistan "clearly violates Afghanistan's national sovereignty".
Afghanistan has also urged Islamabad "not to allow its territory to be used by insurgents and elements who insist on continuing the war and bloodshed".
The official statement was released after "a series of video footages emerged in which the Taliban appeared among their followers, disclosing the existence of all Taliban leaders in Pakistan and acknowledging their continued activities in Pakistani territory".
The Ministry expressed "deepest regret" over some Taliban leaders being seen in the videos visiting training camps.
"The overt presence and activities of Afghan insurgent elements and their leaders in Pakistani territory clearly violate Afghanistan's national sovereignty and continue to cause crisis and instability in the region, posing a serious challenge to achieving sustainable peace in Afghanistan," it added.
Recently, TOLO News had quoted the Taliban's deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as saying that all decisions about the peace process are being finalized in consultation with the Taliban's leadership and the cleric council in Pakistan.
"Here, though, everything has passed us by, but we are compelled to come because there are not a few people here, our entire leadership is present here in this place (Pakistan)," said Baradar while visiting the injured members of the Taliban in Karachi.
"When we conduct partial or general negotiations there (Doha), we share the whole process with the leaders and the Ulema council here. We receive back their guidance and act upon it," he added.
Reacting to the statements made by Baradar, TOLO news quoted Haji Din Mohammad, the deputy head of the High Council of National Reconciliation, as saying, "They (Taliban) were already there (Pakistan), but now they have confessed it. For this reason the role of Pakistan has been critical in the process."
