ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has rejected the Afghan Taliban regime’s claim that weapons are being smuggled from Pakistan into Afghanistan for so-called “subversive activities”, calling the allegation “frivolous, baseless and contrary to established facts”.
In a statement on Sunday, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that Afghanistan is already awash with enormous quantities of sophisticated weapons and military equipment abandoned following the withdrawal of US and coalition forces.
The statement added that the weapons and equipment left behind are estimated to be worth $7.2 billion, while Afghanistan also possesses large stocks of Soviet-era weaponry accumulated over decades of conflict.
The statement came hours after the Afghan Defence Ministry claimed to have discovered and seized “dozens of tons of light and heavy weapons” allegedly “smuggled from Pakistan”. Pakistan said attempts to establish a Pakistani connection to the weapons appeared designed to divert international attention from a more serious and documented concern.It said terrorist groups continued to find space, facilitation and operational freedom on Afghan soil to plan, support and carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
The statement further said that rather than resorting to implausible accusations and blame-shifting, the Afghan Taliban authorities must address the presence of terrorist sanctuaries on their territory.
It also called on the Afghan Taliban to honour their repeated commitments that Afghan soil would not be used for terrorism against Pakistan or any other country.Pakistan has seen a sharp increase in cross-border terrorist incidents, particularly in the bordering provinces of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan since the Taliban grabbed power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Islamabad had repeatedly asked Kabul to prevent its soil from being used by terrorist organisations to carry out attacks inside its territory. However, the Afghan Taliban regime failed to act against terror groups involved in countless attacks on Pakistani security forces and civilians.
