Afghan leader calls on Pakistan to crack down on extremists

Abdullah Abdullah asks Pakistan to keep its promise to crack down on extremists

Afghanistan's chief executive Abdullah Abdullah called on Pakistan on Tuesday to keep its promise to crack down on extremists blamed for carrying out cross-border attacks and destablilsing the war-torn country.

“We call on Pakistan to do what its leadership promised to us a few months ago when they agreed to crack down on known terror outfits,” Abdullah said, while addressing the UN General Assembly on Monday night, Associated Press reported.

Read: Ghani says Pak-Afghan ties not brotherly

Abdullah’s statement came hours after Taliban captured the strategic northern Afghan city of Kunduz in a multi-pronged attack involving hundreds of fighters, the first time the insurgents have seized a major urban area since the 2001 US-led invasion.

Abdullah claimed some of the attackers had come from abroad.

Citing Islamic State as among the extremist groups sowing terror in Afghanistan, the chief executive said without external support "this guerrilla-style low intensity warfare would have been history by now."

Read: Afghan forces launch mission to retake northern city from Taliban

The Afghan leader expressed optimism that the insurgency would be defeated, saying "these attempts will eventually fail to subdue us."

Further, on Monday Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan were not brotherly but like a relationship between two states. In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation on the first anniversary of his presidential term, Ghani urged Islamabad to take the same stance against terrorists targeting Pakistan or any other country.

Read: Pak-Afghan ties: ‘We will have to go the extra mile to end impasse’

The Afghan president’s statement comes at a time when relations between the two countries are tense, with leaders from both sides accusing the other of harbouring terrorists. Popular belief in Afghanistan questions Pakistan’s sincerity in seeking a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship.

On Saturday, Adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz while attending a high level event "Afghanistan’s Peaceful Reconstruction and Regional Cooperation" said the peace and prosperity of Afghanistan was essential for Pakistan's own security.

This article originally appeared on US News.