Terror incidents increased since Afghan interim govt came to power in 2021: PM Kakar

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Wednesday said there has been an increase in terror incidents in Pakistan since the interim Afghan government came to power in 2021, as he linked the ongoing deportation drive of illegal immigrants to counter-terrorism actions.

The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021 after a lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as government forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others at a cost of trillions of dollars, melted away.

Addressing the media in Islamabad, he said, “After the establishment of the interim Afghan government in August 2021, we had a strong hope that there would be long-term peace in Afghanistan. […] Strict action would be taken against Pakistan-opposing groups, especially the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and they would absolutely not be allowed to use Afghan soil against Pakistan.

“But unfortunately, after the establishment of the interim Afghan govt, there has been a 60 per cent increase in terror incidents and 500pc rise in suicide attacks in Pakistan,” he claimed.

The premier further said, “In the past two years, 2,267 innocent citizens’ lives have been lost to this tragic bloodshed, for which the terrorists of TTP are responsible who are conducting cowardly attacks on Pakistani using Afghan soil.

“During this time, 15 Afghan citizens were also among the people involved in suicide attacks. Other than this, till now, 64 Afghan citizens were killed while fighting Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies during the counterterrorism campaign,” he added.

However, the prime minister did not provide any further details about the alleged involvement of Afghan nationals in any specific terror attack.

His statement comes after the country witnessed a sharp rise in terror incidents during the past week, including on Mianwali Training Air Base claimed by the Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan and an ambush in Gwadar claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Front, while no group claimed responsibility for other attacks.

Deportation drive amidst rise in terror activities
The government has initiated a nationwide operation to deport illegal foreign nationals after the Nov 1 ultimatum to leave Pakistan voluntarily expired.

Of the more than four million Afghans living in Pakistan, the government estimates 1.7m are undocumented.

While the decision had prompted criticism from Afghanistan and several other quarters, the caretakers refused to budge from the deadline, insisting the move is not aimed at any particular ethnic group.

Last month, interim Punjab Information Minister Amir Mir had claimed that there were “24 suicide bombings in different parts of Pakistan and Afghan nationals were identified as suicide bombers in 14 such incidents”, without specifying any further details.

Last week, 14 soldiers lost their lives after militants attacked two vehicles of security forces in Gwadar. The next day, nine terrorists were killed in a clearance operation after the Pakistan Army foiled a terrorist attack on the Mianwali Training Air Base. A day ago, four security personnel were martyred in a shoot-out in Tirah during an intelligence-based operation.

On Sunday, caretaker Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai had claimed that six militants who were killed in the Zhob attack had Afghan identity cards in their possession, which were recovered by the security forces.