Allowing Afghan refugees to settle in Pakistan “grave mistake”, says Pakistan defense minister

Following Pakistan’s displeasure with the Taliban’s attitude towards “terrorist groups in Afghanistan”, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has called the presence of Afghan immigrants in this country a “grave mistake”.

Yesterday, the Minister of Defense of Pakistan said in a TV program that it is a grave mistake to allow Afghan refugees to settle in Pakistan and that “Pakistan has suffered the consequences of sheltering and hosting the Afghan refugees.”

“The current situation has raised significant concerns about the facilities provided to the Afghan refugees,” he stated while speaking on the Express News show ‘Center Stage’ and added: “What have we done in the past four years? Now we must find a solution to the Afghan refugee issue in Pakistan”.

The Defense Minister of Pakistan has criticized Imran Khan’s government and added that “The PTI government made serious errors during its tenure, committing crimes against the state”.

Khawaja Asif noted that, in the past, a terrorist involved in a suicide attack had posed as an attendant to a patient. Now, Afghan citizens have also become involved in such incidents, which is unacceptable.

The minister revealed that during his visit to Kabul with a delegation, he had raised concerns about these terrorist incidents. “The Afghan government also presented some proposals to us. Their response was not negative, but unfortunately, these incidents have not stopped in Pakistan. We need to find a swift resolution to this matter because it is not acceptable to us.

He emphasized: “We have various options available, and Kabul should engage with us to address these issues”. We have paid a heavy price for this situation, he said. “The world needs to see what is happening to them. We have been cooperating with them for 35 years.”

Official sources told The Express Tribune that the hard-hitting statements by the country’s army chief and defense minister showed Pakistan’s frustration over the lack of cooperation by the Afghan Taliban to tackle the TTP.

The Express Tribune wrote in the report that the Afghan Taliban were told in clear terms that the use of Afghan soil by the TTP would not go unpunished. Islamabad informed Kabul that it reserved the right to hit back at the safe havens across the border.