‘Some’ Haqqani Members Activating in Pakistan: Pak Officials

A senior Pakistani official has said that “some” members of the terrorist Haqqani network are activating in the country.

Pakistani Foreign Secretary, Aizaz Chaudhry has made the admission in an interview to the state-run Pakistani television PTV broadcast.

“The Haqqani Network is actually part of the Taliban. Most of their people are in Afghanistan, most of them, and some of them are present here (in Pakistan),” said Chaudhry.

Chaudhry asserted the Pakistani leadership is sticking to its pledges of not allowing any individual or group to use Pakistan’s soil for terrorist activities.

“We have also explicitly given the same message to the Taliban and Haqqanis that you must not indulge in any terrorist activity or violence in Afghanistan,” he said. “And if you can’t mend your ways and live peacefully like millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, then you better leave the country because Pakistani soil cannot welcome you and the space would be squeezed on you.”

In the meantime, Afghanistan National Defense Ministry emphasized that the Haqqani network and Quetta Council are present in Pakistan.

“Haqqani network and Quetta council are in Pakistan and organize their activities from Pakistan. Pakistan is trying to change World view about announcing it state sponsored terrorism,” said Muhammad Radmanish, deputy spokesman of National Defense Ministry.

The Afghan government has always stressed that the Haqqani and Taliban activities organized in Pakistan.

“Clearly, all terrorist groups are in Pakistan, but Islamabad is trying to introduce Afghanistan a terrorist country,” said Abdul Hadi Quraishe, Former military official.

The U.S. Congress last week passed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes $900 million for reimbursement to Pakistan for conducting counterterrorism operations to secure its long border with Afghanistan.