Pakistan rejects Taliban claims linking Islamabad to Nuristan clashes

Pakistan on Sunday rejected allegations by the Afghan Taliban regime linking Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies to alleged violence in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province, terming the claims “frivolous, baseless and devoid of any truth”. In a fact-check issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Pakistan categorically denied involvement in internal clashes in Nuristan or elsewhere in Afghanistan, including allegations that it was recruiting or training former Afghan security personnel or facilitating Daesh or other terrorist groups. The ministry said no evidence had been presented to substantiate Pakistan’s alleged involvement, including identities, documents, communications, forensic evidence or independent verification. It also rejected an alleged video being circulated on social media as evidence, saying it showed only a few unarmed individuals who were not properly dressed or equipped and appeared to have been arrested in what the ministry described as a pre-planned video shoot. The ministry said the presence and activities of various terrorist groups inside Afghanistan were documented in successive reports by the United Nations and other international organisations. It added that attempts to establish a Pakistani connection could not obscure what it described as the continued presence of terrorist groups on Afghan territory. Pakistan also urged the Afghan Taliban regime to take “credible and verifiable action” against terrorist organisations operating from Afghanistan and fulfil its commitments that Afghan soil would not be used for terrorism against Pakistan or any other country. The ministry further accused the Taliban regime of using such allegations to externalise responsibility for internal security challenges and criticised its record on women, children and minorities. The fact-check comes amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban, with both sides exchanging accusations over cross-border militancy and security incidents.

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