Taliban reject claims of Afghan involvement in recent attacks in Pakistan

Taliban security personnel stand guard to receive Afghan prisoners who were held in U.S. custody at the Kabul international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/ Siddiqullah Alizai)

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban on Wednesday rejected claims of Afghan involvement in recent attacks in Pakistan, calling it "irresponsible and far from the reality."

Pakistan's military said Tuesday a suicide bombing that killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver in March was planned in neighboring Afghanistan and that the bomber was an Afghan citizen.

Maj. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, a spokesman for Pakistan's army, has said that four men behind the March 26 attack in Bisham, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, had been arrested.

Enayatullah Khawarazmi, a spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Defense, said in a statement Wednesday that "blaming Afghanistan for such incidents is a failed attempt to divert attention from the truth of the matter and we strongly reject it."

"The killing of Chinese citizens in an area of ​​Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that is under tight security cover by the Pakistan Army shows the weakness of the Pakistani security agencies, " said Khawarazmi.

He added that the Islamic Emirate has assured China that Afghans were not involved.

Sharif said the Afghan Taliban had failed to honor promises they made to the international community before coming to power, vowing no one would be allowed to use Afghan soil for attacks against any country.

Khawarazmi countered that Afghanistan has evidence of Islamic state members coming to Afghanistan form Pakistan, and "Pakistan territory being used against us, for which Pakistan should answer."