Muttaqi tells Pakistan to stop blaming Afghanistan for its insecurity
Referring to Pakistan’s concerns about terrorism threats emanating from Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), on Wednesday called on Islamabad to stop blaming Afghanistan for insecurity.
Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate a drug addiction treatment center in Kabul, Muttaqi said that the root of Pakistan’s security problems is in the country itself and should not be attributed to Afghanistan.
He suggested the government of Pakistan do more investigations into Monday’s mosque bombing in Peshawar, especially due to the extent of damage. He said it doesn’t look like it was a suicide bomber or an IED.
Muttaqi said that Afghanistan is not a terrorist haven.
“If someone says that Afghanistan is the haven of terrorism, they also say that terrorism knows no boundaries. If terrorism was in Afghanistan, it would spread to China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran. Today, all these countries are safe. Afghanistan is also safe,” Muttaqi said.
The event was also addressed by Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani who suggested that the international community is exercising double standards over humanitarian aid.
“You claim day and night that you are supporters of human rights. If you can’t provide three billion [dollars] in aid to these people (addicts), provide at least one billion,” Haqqani said.
The administrative deputy of the prime minister also criticized the regional and Islamic countries for not cooperating with Afghanistan in finding alternative crops for poppy cultivation.
“In providing alternative crops to farmers, neither the neighboring countries, nor the Islamic countries, nor the countries of the world, have provided any kind of assistance to the Afghan people and the Afghan government until today,” Abdul Salam Hanafi said.
Thousands of addicts are expected to be treated in the newly inaugurated facility called “Aghoosh.”
Abdulhaq Hamkar, deputy interior minister for counternarcotics, said that the establishment of the facility has cost about 75 million afghanis.