Afghan Soil Will Not Be Used Against Other Countries, Taliban’s FM Promises Pak Envoy

During a meeting with Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan in Kabul, the Taliban’s foreign minister said that the group doesn’t allow Afghan soil to be used against other countries.

However, over the past week, Islamabad has announced that Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) enjoys sanctuary and freedom of movement in Afghanistan.

After Pakistan’s vocal criticisms of the Taliban, Durrani arrived in Kabul on Wednesday. His visit to Kabul comes a few days after the recent attacks by militants on Pakistani soldiers in Baluchistan province.

After the attack, the Pakistani army expressed its concern in two separate statements about the safe havens of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan and the participation of Afghan citizens in "terrorist" activities on Pakistani soil.

In a statement, the Pakistani army announced that it has "serious concerns" about the existence of safe havens and the freedom of action of the Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan.

However, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Twitter that Muttaqi conveyed to Pakistan's special representative for Afghanistan affairs that "Afghans will never harm anyone”.

During the meeting with Durrani, the Taliban’s foreign minister also discussed economic relations with Pakistan and expressed hope that the political and economic relations between the group and Pakistan will develop further. Muttaqi stressed that this requires “joint work”.

Muttaqi added that “a good opportunity has come up to strengthen the economy” under the Taliban rule.

The Taliban’s foreign ministry spokesperson said that in response to Muttaqi, Durrani expressed his country’s readiness to develop bilateral political and economic relations and stressed that Islamabad will pay serious attention to completing the construction of the Torkham-Jalalabad highway.