In a first, Taliban regime’s security report accuses Pak of sheltering militants

In a first, Taliban regime’s security report accuses Pak of sheltering militants

In a first, Taliban regime’s security report accuses Pak of sheltering militants ByRezaul H Laskar Jan 22, 2025 08:16 PM IST Share Via Copy Link Relations between the Afghan Taliban and Islamabad have cratered, with the Pakistani military triggering tensions with its air strikes on Afghanistan

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan’s Taliban regime on Wednesday resorted to the unprecedented step of accusing elements in Pakistan of sheltering militants in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with the intent of attempting “attacks in different countries in the region”, reflecting the sharp downturn in ties between Kabul and Islamabad.

A Taliban military helicopter fly past security personnel during the funeral ceremony of Refugees and Repatriation Minister Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani on Dec 12 who was killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group (AFP FILE PHOTO)

The accusation was levelled in the five-page annual report of the Taliban’s Central Commission for Security and Clearance Affairs, a body led by the deputy defence minister that is involved in combating terrorism and militancy. The report was issued after an annual meeting of the body chaired by the Taliban’s acting defence minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid.

The development comes at a time when relations between the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistan government have cratered, with the Pakistani military triggering tensions with its air strikes on Afghanistan last month. Reports suggested the Pakistani strikes targeted the Pakistani Taliban, but the regime in Kabul said the assault killed 46 civilians.

The Taliban commission’s report said leaders and members of various groups involved in spreading disorder fled to neighbouring countries after their networks in Afghanistan were dismantled over the past three years. These elements are “regrouping with the tacit approval, tolerance, and indirect support of certain parties” and “have been provided shelter in Balochistan and certain tribal areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa” provinces of Pakistan.

The report, without identifying the elements backing the militants sheltering in Pakistan, said training camps were established, facilities provided for fundraising, and “opportunities for propaganda and recruitment from various countries have been facilitated”.

The report added: “We currently have credible information that they are transferring their newly recruited members from some Asian and European countries to their centers in Balochistan and certain tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa via Karachi and Islamabad airports.”

The report contended that the militants based in Pakistan could possibly “be utilised to attempt attacks in different countries in the region and beyond”, but didn’t give details.

Several reports in recent years by the United Nations body that monitors sanctions on the Taliban and al-Qaeda have asserted that several thousand fighters from Pakistan-based groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) continue to be based in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban commission’s report claimed “certain elements” were involved in “malicious efforts” to create concerns regionally with their reports to the UN.

The commission’s report further said the Taliban had thwarted most of the attacks by elements trying to undermine Afghanistan’s security. “It is important to note that all these attacks were planned outside Afghanistan...These attacks often involved foreign nationals, particularly from Tajikistan and Pakistan,” it said.

The Afghan Taliban are committed to the “foundational principles” of the national security policy, including non-interference in the affairs of others, prohibiting the use of Afghan territory for acts of aggression against other nations and an economy-focused approach to sustainable security and stability, the report said.

At a meeting between foreign secretary Vikram Misri and the Taliban’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai earlier this month – the highest engagement between New Delhi and Kabul since the group assumed power in Afghanistan in 2021 – the Taliban conveyed its “sensitivities to India’s security concerns”, according to an official readout.