The Taliban on Wednesday slammed the Pakistan Government for blaming Afghanistan for the Peshawar mosque blast.
The Taliban’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Muttaqi called on Pakistan to investigate the Peshawar attack rather than blame neighbouring Afghanistan for terror carnage. “Don’t blame others for your own failures,” said the Taliban.
On January 30, a suicide bombing at a mosque in the Peshawar Police Lines area claimed the lives of at least 101 people, mostly police officials.
Muttaqi called on Pakistan to investigate the Peshawar attack instead of blaming Kabul and said that Afghanistan is not a safe haven for terrorists.
“If Afghanistan was the centre of terrorism, it would have gone into China, Central Asia & Iran,” he said.
Muttaqi told a gathering in the capital, Kabul, that Pakistani officials should find a solution to their security challenges locally and desist from “sowing the seeds of enmity” between the two countries.
Pakistani authorities were quick to blame the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, also called Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), for what they said was a suicide bomb attack and suggested the violence emanated from Afghanistan, reported Voice of America.
Muttaqi echoed suspicions and questions being raised by critics in Pakistan in the wake of the large-scale destruction caused by the blast and said, “Our region is used to wars and bomb blasts. But we have not seen in the past 20 years a lone suicide bomber blowing up roofs of mosques and killing hundreds of people.”
The TTP, designated a global terrorist group by the United States, has long been conducting deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan and its leadership allegedly directs the violence from Afghan sanctuaries. But the Pakistani Taliban has formally denied involvement in the Peshawar mosque bombing, reported VOA.
Moazzam Jah Ansari, the provincial police chief, told reporters Tuesday that a suicide bomber had entered the mosque as a guest, using up to 12 kilograms of explosive material earlier brought to the site in bits and pieces.
A spate of recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan, mostly claimed by the TTP, has strained relations between the two countries.
Pakistan is weighing its options to deal with the resurgence of terrorism with a focus on how to ensure that the Afghan interim government fulfills its promises, people familiar with the development have said.
It is evident from background discussions with the relevant quarters that Pakistan is increasingly frustrated over the lack of cooperation from the Afghan Taliban in tackling the growing threat posed by the banned TTP
Meanwhile, the desperate police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been brought to the point where they are protesting for their rights.
“This is an example of a complete loss of trust in the State. They have been dying needlessly in the Establishment’s double games, and there is no one to put an end to this,” tweeted Mohsin Dawar, Member National Assembly, NA-48, North Waziristan.
In an unusual protest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police in front of Peshawar Press Club chanted slogans, “We know all the unknown persons.”
Videos shared on social media show groups of police officers raising slogans against rising terrorism.
This is the first time in history that the province’s police have protested against terrorism.
