Surge in violence: Islamabad too soft on Taliban: Kabul

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is reluctant to take action against the Afghan Taliban, a spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry said on Monday as fighting continued to rage in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz. “Pakistan is reluctant to heed Afghanistan’s call to eliminate the Taliban on Pakistani soil. Islamabad has failed to realise the importance of eradicating the insurgent group in its country,” said Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s interior ministry. “There is no indication of Pakistan’s willingness to target the Taliban and destroy their military bases on its soil… their [Taliban’s] funding sources weren’t rooted out and madrassas where they are providing training were not closed,” he told Tolo TV in a debate on Sunday. However, Pakistani officials insist they do not allow anyone to use its soil against Afghanistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th,  2016.