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AFP
Islamabad
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan insisted on Monday that his country is no longer a militant safe haven, and said his administration fully supports the Afghan peace process.
Khan’s assertion was challenged hours later, when a suicide bomber targeted a religious rally in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
Pakistan, which has long been accused of supporting the Taliban and other extremist groups along its border with Afghanistan, is seen as key to helping secure and implement any deal.
“I can tell you that there are no safe havens here,” Khan said at a conference in Islamabad. “Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now, I can tell you... there is one thing we want: peace in Afghanistan.”
His comments came after Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan’s second vice president, accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit new fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.
On Monday evening, police said a suicide bomber had targeted a rally in the southwestern city of Quetta in Balochistan province. At least eight people -- including two police officers -- were killed.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province -- bordering Afghanistan and Iran -- remains home to Islamist, separatist and sectarian insurgents, even as violent incidents have dropped elsewhere in Pakistan.
Khan was addressing a conference marking 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in his country.
Islamabad
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan insisted on Monday that his country is no longer a militant safe haven, and said his administration fully supports the Afghan peace process.
Khan’s assertion was challenged hours later, when a suicide bomber targeted a religious rally in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
Pakistan, which has long been accused of supporting the Taliban and other extremist groups along its border with Afghanistan, is seen as key to helping secure and implement any deal.
“I can tell you that there are no safe havens here,” Khan said at a conference in Islamabad. “Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now, I can tell you... there is one thing we want: peace in Afghanistan.”
His comments came after Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan’s second vice president, accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit new fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan.
On Monday evening, police said a suicide bomber had targeted a rally in the southwestern city of Quetta in Balochistan province. At least eight people -- including two police officers -- were killed.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province -- bordering Afghanistan and Iran -- remains home to Islamist, separatist and sectarian insurgents, even as violent incidents have dropped elsewhere in Pakistan.
Khan was addressing a conference marking 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in his country.
