Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday, urged with the international community to support efforts to strengthen the Afghan interim government’s capacity to deal with terrorist threats. When the illegal Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke the ceasefire in November 2022 and began attacking the military, paramilitary, police, and civilians, the unstable situation in Afghanistan was further exacerbated. The international community wants the Afghan interim government to uphold its commitments and obligations in areas like women’s education, inclusive government, and combating potential terrorism threats from terrorist organizations like Daesh, TTP, and Al Qaeda, FM Bilawal stated during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference.
The foreign minister warned that, as had recently been seen from incidents in Pakistan, if this matter was not taken seriously, terrorist organizations could conduct terrorist activities from Afghanistan. One of the deadliest attacks in recent memory, the Peshawar mosque suicide attack killed more than 80 people, mostly policemen, and was carried out by the outlawed TTP. FM Bilawal believed that the interim government lacked a standing army, a counterterrorism force, or even a border force. According to Bilawal, the international community should persuade the Afghan interim government to confront the threat of terrorism and show its resolve. He cautioned that terrorism not only posed a threat to Afghanistan’s close neighbors but also to the West.
He added that Pakistan had hosted the most Afghan refugees on its soil and would continue to do so as a result, and that the international community could not wash its hands of Afghanistan and turn a blind eye. He emphasized the need for continued humanitarian aid, the release of frozen Afghan assets, the opening of banking channels, and dialogue with the Taliban, society, and women. The international community must play its part in promoting peace in Afghanistan, the foreign minister reaffirmed, if the region is to remain stable. He added that the Afghan interim administration had pledged to rid the country of terrorism.
