Pakistan says it hopes Taliban will stop TTP cross-border attacks

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid has said Islamabad hopes the Afghan Taliban will prevent groups such as TTP from carrying out cross-border attacks against Pakistan.

Speaking to the Express Tribune, Rashid said: “Prime Minister Imran Khan has categorically said that we [Pakistan] will not give any bases to the United States to use against Afghanistan.”

“…But we also expect from [Afghan] Taliban that they will not allow TTP [Tehreek-e-Pakistan Taliban] and other elements to carry out any activity which causes harm to the lives and property of Pakistani people,” he said.

Last week Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said in an opinion article published in the Washington Post that Islamabad was ready to partner in peace with Afghanistan but would not allow the United States to set up military bases in the country.

He said that Pakistan had already paid a high price due to the instability in Afghanistan and if Islamabad agreed to host US bases, Pakistan could be targeted in revenge attacks.

Meanwhile, Rashid told the Pakistani media that fencing along the Durand Line between Pakistan and Afghanistan was 88 percent complete.

He said the rest was likely to be finished by the end of the month and that fencing along the Iranian border would be completed by the end of this year.

Rashid said the fencing along the borders would help to stop illegal movement and smuggling.

Responding to remarks by the Pakistani Interior Minister, who called on Taliban to stop TTPs anti-Pakistani activities, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said Pakistan should fight terrorist groups without discrimination & not allow them to endanger security & stability in the region.

“The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is not nucleated in Afghanistan and does not operate in Afghanistan,” the Afghan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.