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Tension is growing between Pakistan and the interim Afghanistan government with Islamabad pointing fingers at Kabul for being the facilitator and supporter of militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), whose continued attacks in different parts of Pakistan have spread a wave of terror, posing serious security threat to the armed forces.
Against this backdrop, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister, is expected to visit Islamabad and hold talks with the senior officials of the Pakistan government and its security forces. The visit holds critical and crucial relevance in view of the persisting tensions between the two countries, which share a large porous border. As per sources in the know of things, Islamabad and Kabul are currently in touch with each other to finalise the date for the visit of the Afghan Taliban chief's acting Foreign Minister. "The visit is expected to take place in the coming weeks," said a source. This will be Mutaqqi's second visit to Islamabad. He had previously come in November 2021, months after the Taliban took over the control in Afghanistan, ousting the Ashraf Ghani government, which fell in a span of 20 days after the withdrawal of NATO forces. "Pakistan had hoped that the Taliban takeover would improve border security and more importantly, the issue of terrorist sanctuaries would be sorted out. But contrary to our expectations, the TTP-sponsored attacks have only increased, causing friction in bilateral ties," said the source. This happened after months long peace talks between the former Pakistan government of Imran Khan, the security agencies of the country and the TTP, which were facilitated by the Afghan Taliban in Kabul, but failed in the end. Since then, TTP has amplified its attacks in Pakistan and has targeted security installations with suicide bombings, targeted attacks and killings, claiming lives of many security personnel. Pakistan, during its recent high-level meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), admitted that the peace talks with the TTP had only resulted in rise in terrorist activities. "The government has now decided that it would not have any further talks with the Taliban and would counter their terror attacks with military level offensive," said the source. Pakistan has also repeatedly maintained that the Afghan Taliban have failed to take any action against TTP militants, who are moving freely in Afghanistan and using its soil to plan, coordinate and carry out terror attacks. On the other hand, the Afghan Taliban have denied Islamabad's claims, stating that they stand by their promise to not allow its soil to be used against any other country. --IANS hamza/arm ( 442 Words) 2023-04-13-21:28:03 (IANS)
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