Pakistan has demanded the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to conduct a thorough investigation to find out how the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) acquired advanced military equipment.
At the UNSC’s United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) briefing on Afghanistan, Ambassador Munir Akram — Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations — said Pakistan faced a major threat from the TTP and its offshoots for their organised cross-border terrorist attacks into the country.
He said the attacks had seriously damaged Pakistani military forces and other installations, in addition to inflicting a large number of casualties among the soldiers.
“Just this year alone, these attacks have claimed the lives of hundreds of our courageous soldiers and civilians. And last week, a terrorist organization linked to the TTP carried out a horrific attack on our security personnel in Dera Ismail Khan, killing over 23 innocent people.
“These attacks have become more lethal and sophisticated, since the TTP terrorists have acquired and use advanced military equipment. These weapons obviously originate from the considerable stocks left behind by foreign forces. Yet, the question is: how did the TTP – a listed terrorist organisation –secure these weapons.
“Pakistan demands that the United Nations—whether UNAMA or another agency—conduct a thorough investigation to elicit how these weapons got into the hands of the TTP and to identify ways of retrieving them,” he said.
“Pakistan demands that the United Nations – whether UNAMA or another agency – conduct a thorough investigation to elicit how these weapons got in the hands of the TTP and to identify ways of retrieving them,” he said.
The Pakistani envoy acknowledged that Afghanistan’s economy had stabilized and improved, but stressed that any dialogue with the interim Afghan government should be built around its ability to address the main issues raised by the international community.
Many terrorist organizations were still active in Afghanistan, he claimed, even though it seemed that the Afghan interim government was giving some support to them.
He stated that it was evident that the TTP had been given carte blanche to launch cross-border assaults against Pakistan’s border outposts and other facilities. However, without naming the key nemesis, he said Pakistan also had clear evidence that the TTP received support from its main adversary.
“The Security Council should invigorate the work of the 1988 Committee to secure action by the Afghan Interim Government against all these terrorist groups in Afghanistan and empower the monitoring team to analyse and inform the Committee and this Council about progress made in the context of counterterrorism in Afghanistan.
