Afghan Taliban militants have started leaving Pakistan following a strong warning from the government against using its soil for insurgency in Afghanistan, a report in the local media said on Wednesday quoting a senior government official.
“It is our understanding that several Taliban fighters have recently left Pakistan,” the report quoted the unnamed official as having said.
According to the report, the official maintained that the country’s clear warning to the insurgent groups against not using its soil against the neighbouring country could be the main reason behind the Afghan Taliban’s exodus.
Pakistan has long been accused of harbouring the Afghan Taliban, including the deadly Haqqani network, a charge Islamabad has always denied. A senior official’s acknowledgement of the presence of some Afghan Taliban members on the Pakistani soil, however, remains unprecedented.
Explaining Pakistan’s strategy on Afghanistan, the official pointed out that Islamabad conveyed to Kabul that it would not fight its war on “our soil”.
“There are several options between taking a military action and leaving the Afghan Taliban untouched,” the official said in response to a question on whether Pakistan would use force against the Afghan Taliban if they used its soil against the neighbouring country.
Furthermore, talking about the prospects of peace talks, the official made it clear Pakistan facilitated talks between the Afghan Taliban and Afghan government in good faith. “But now, we will not take any initiative,” he said, adding that the “first move has to come from Kabul”.
The official went on to say that the Afghan government had to choose between peace talks and use of force. “If they (Afghanistan) prefer the military option then discussions are required between Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as China and the US,” the official added.
On Monday, Pakistan decided to only share evidence with the Afghan government and to actively pursue the Badhaber PAF airbase attack case instead of lodging a protest.
