Karachi (Staff Report): Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has categorically rejected the United States’ claims of the presence of terrorist safe havens in Pakistan.
“Terrorist groups are present in Afghanistan, not Pakistan,” Abbasi said while speaking to foreign magazine.
Abbasi said that while the government of Pakistan was taking indiscriminate action against all terrorist groups, terrorists had continued to conduct attacks from Afghanistan.
He further said that the negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban were necessary to establish peace in the country.
Earlier, the top US general in Afghanistan General John Nicholson said on Tuesday that he had not seen a change in Pakistan’s support for militants so far, despite President Donald Trump taking a tougher line against Islamabad.
US officials have long been frustrated by what they see as Pakistan’s reluctance to act against groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network that they believe exploit safe haven on Pakistani soil to launch attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan.
In August, Trump outlined a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, chastising Pakistan over its alleged support for Afghan militants.
