Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said that it has enough reasons to confirm the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan. Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, added that terrorists use areas in Afghanistan as sanctuaries.
Ahmad told Pakistani media on Thursday, "Pakistan and the international community have enough reasons to believe that some areas in Afghanistan are still being used by terrorist groups as safe havens."
Islamabad reiterated its stance on terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan after the Taliban denied the presence of Masood Azhar, the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Afghanistan.
However, a Taliban source told Afghanistan International on Thursday that Pakistan raised the issue of Masood Azhar’s presence in Afghanistan and his handover to Islamabad after the Taliban arrested four members of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Kandahar.
A diplomatic source also said that Pakistan demanded the Taliban to hand over Azhar to Islamabad so that the country could get out of the Financial Action Task Force gray list.
A diplomatic source in Islamabad said that last week the FATF had asked Pakistan to arrest Azhar.
Pakistan has been on the gray list of the FATF for several years now for failing to check money laundering leading to terror financing. Pakistan is trying to get out of the FATF's gray list by completing the required 27 indicators.
