Ned Price, the spokesperson for the US State Department, made the announcement two days after the National Security Council (NSC), the top civil-military decision-making body, reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to destroying terrorist organisations that threaten Pakistan.
In the two-day NSC meeting that took place from December 31 to January 1, the forum had unequivocally urged Afghanistan’s leaders, without specifically mentioning them, to deny safe harbour to Pakistani terrorist groups on its land and end their support, while repeating its intention to crush terrorist organisations operating inside the country with full force.
Ned Price, a spokesperson for the US State Department, said in a weekly press conference that “the Pakistani people have suffered tremendously from terrorist attacks” and that “Pakistan has a right to defend itself from terrorism” in response to a question about the NSC’s (National Security Committee) remark that Pakistan would target the terrorist safe havens across the border if Afghanistan did not take the necessary action.
He said that the [Afghan] Taliban had to keep their word that their country would never serve as a base for global terrorist assaults.
He stated, “These are among the very commitments that the Taliban have been unable or unwilling to fulfil to date.”
Cross-border assaults on terrorist safe havens are prohibited by international law, according to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.
Despite warning against any cross-border operations, the Afghan Taliban government refuted Pakistan’s claims that the TTP was conducting operations from Afghanistan. The NSC statement, however, suggests that Pakistan is not convinced by the Afghan Taliban government’s stance.
Key ministries, service heads, and top intelligence officials were present at the meeting, which was presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It also backed the government’s plan for reestablishing economic stability in the nation.
The spike in terrorist attacks and the worsening economic crisis were the topics of discussion during the NSC meeting.
