Kabul backtracks on Besham probe assistance

ISLAMABAD
A day after Pakistan sought Afghan help to apprehend the perpetrators of a terrorist attack on Chinese engineers, the Taliban government on Friday turned down Islamabad’s request, claiming Kabul had nothing to do with the March 26 incident.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent an interior secretary to Kabul with a message to seek assistance from Afghanistan in the ongoing investigations into the Besham attack.
Secretary Interior Muhammad Khurram Agha held talks with the Afghan interim deputy interior minister and shared evidence linking the attack on Chinese engineers with Afghan territory.
A foreign office statement said the Afghan side agreed to examine the findings of the investigation and expressed the resolve to work with the Pakistan side to take the investigation to its logical conclusion.
“The Afghan side reiterated its commitment to prevent the use of their soil for any terrorist activity against other countries, including Pakistan,” the statement added.
However, the spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban government rejected Pakistan’s statement, saying Pakistan was trying to create distrust between Kabul and Beijing.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, in response to the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement about the perpetrators of the attack on Chinese citizens in Pakistan. “This issue has nothing to do with Afghanistan and Pakistan should ensure its own security,” he claimed.
He further said: “Targeting Chinese nationals in Pakistan is related to Pakistan and has nothing to do with Afghanistan. The report published by Pakistanis is an attempt to create distrust between China and Afghanistan. We have repeatedly denied this, and it is also illogical.”
Earlier speaking at the weekly news briefing, foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan and Afghanistan had “robust channels of communication”, including regarding Pakistan’s serious concerns about the terror threat that Pakistan faces from groups, which have hideouts and sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.
“Yesterday, talks were held at senior official levels and led by Secretary Interior from the Pakistani side and Deputy Minister for Interior from the Afghan side and we have been engaged with each other to ensure that the Afghan territory is not used to create trouble in Pakistan. The Afghan authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to ensure that Afghan territory will not be used against third countries including Pakistan,” she added.
Pakistan’s move to seek Afghanistan assistance to apprehend the perpetrators of March 26 attack came just days before Prime Minister Shehbaz is to undertake a visit to Beijing, where security of Chinese nationals would be one of the key talking points.
The foreign office on Friday officially confirmed that at the invitation of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang of the People’s Republic of China, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will undertake an official visit to China from June 4-8.
The visit will have three segments. Besides Beijing, the prime minister will visit the cities of Xi’an and Shenzhen.
In Beijing, the prime minister will meet President Xi Jinping and hold delegation-level talks with Premier Li Qiang. He will also hold meetings with Chairman, Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji and heads of key government departments.
An important aspect of the prime minister’s visit will be meetings with corporate executives of leading Chinese companies dealing in oil and gas, energy, ICT, and emerging technologies. In Shenzhen, he will address the Pakistan-China Business Forum with leading businesspersons, entrepreneurs, and investors from both countries. He will also visit Economic and Agricultural Zones in China.