Have taken note of Afghan president's statements on Pakistan: FO

Statement comes after Afghan president accused Pakistan of sending ‘messages of war’ and harbouring bombmaking camps


Web Desk August 11, 2015
PHOTO: PID

Pakistan assured on Tuesday it considers Afghanistan’s enemies its own and has been extending full cooperation to the country in combating terrorism.

“Terrorism is our common enemy and requires cooperative approach to combat this menace,” Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said.

The statement came in response to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s press conference in which he accused Pakistan of sending ‘messages of war’ and harbouring bombmaking camps. Ghani’s outburst came a day after he spoke to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the telephone to discuss the possibility of resumption of peace process between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban and after a wave of devastating blasts in Kabul killed at least 56 people.

Read: Volte-face: Kabul hits out at Islamabad over uptick in violence

"We have taken note of the press conference by the president of Afghanistan held in Kabul today and its contents relating to Pakistan," Khaliullah said.

“Pakistan and Afghanistan are brotherly and neighbouring countries and enjoy close and cooperative relations. Pakistan is committed to maintaining good neighbourly relations with Afghanistan and all other regional countries," he added.

Read: Ghani, Nawaz discuss Afghan peace talks

Further, the spokesperson said Pakistan remained committed to supporting and facilitating an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

A Taliban suicide car bomber killed five people Monday near the entrance of Kabul’s international airport, the latest in a barrage of violence that has convulsed the Afghan capital since Friday. The Taliban are stepping up their summer offensive amid a bitter leadership dispute following the announcement of the death of long-time supremo Mullah Omar.

Since coming to power last year, Ghani has actively courted Pakistan in what experts call a calculated gambit to pressure the militants to the negotiating table. But in a volte-face Monday, Ghani slammed Islamabad for failing to rein in the Taliban as peace talks falter and insurgents step up attacks that are a test for beleaguered Afghan security forces.

“The last few days have shown that suicide bomber training camps and bomb-producing factories which are killing our people are as active as before in Pakistan,” Ghani told a news conference. “We hoped for peace but we are receiving messages of war from Pakistan.”

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