Kabul's 'baseless' Kandahar attack allegations rejected by Islamabad

Attack killed the top tier of security officials in the restive province of Kandahar

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad on Wednesday rejected “baseless” and “unfounded” allegations from Kabul regarding a recent insider attack which killed the top tier of security officials in the restive province of Kandahar.

 

"Pakistan rejects baseless and unfounded allegations regarding the latest Kandahar attacks," said a statement released by the Foreign Office (FO).

Elaborating further, the FO maintained that "no hard evidence or intelligence-related information has been shared to date with Pakistan to substantiate such claims".



The FO's spokesperson, Dr Mohammad Faisal, also highlighted that resorting to a media blame game was contrary to the seven principles of cooperation agreed between the two countries earlier this year.

"Instead, it would be better to invoke relevant arrangements to investigate such incidents under elaborate Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Stability (APAPPS) mechanisms."

The attack killed General Abdul Raziq, one of Afghanistan’s most powerful security officials, when a bodyguard opened fire following a meeting in the governor’s compound in Kandahar.



General Scott Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan who had been at the meeting with Raziq only moments earlier, was uninjured in the attack, but the local commander of the NDS intelligence service and the Kandahar provincial governor Zalmay Wesa were also killed.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they had targeted both Miller and Raziq, who had a fearsome reputation as a ruthless opponent of the insurgents.