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Countering the normalisation of Pakistan’s anti-Afghanistan espionage and terrorism
Pakistan has sought from Afghanistan custody of Aslam Farooqi. Our leniency towards Taliban seems to have afforded the unscrupulous Pakistan a serious miscalculation. Even contemplating a notion as delirious as freeing a deranged criminal is silly. Islamabad is mistaking our forbearance for naivety
AT News
KABUL: Amidst Kabul government’s merciful strategy towards the Taliban and release of hundreds of their prisoners, Pakistan is now seeking from Afghanistan the custody of Aslam Farooqi, the notorious regional leader of the Islamic State terrorist group – Khorasan chapter.
Afghan authorities last week arrested Abdullah Orakzai aka Aslam Farooqi – the chief of ISIL’s ‘Khorasan Province’ chapter – in connection with a bombing at a Sikh temple that killed more than 25 people in Kabul.
Pakistan has asked the Afghan government to hand over his custody for further investigations. The request was set forth on Thursday to Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, Atif Mashal, who was summoned to the Pakistani foreign ministry to convey the request.
A Pakistani terrorist national, he was chief of ISIL’s Khorasan Province chapter, which operates in South Asia and Afghanistan, The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Afghanistan that killed many civilians.
The NDS associates Farooqi with the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Tehreek-e-Taliban terrorist groups. Afghanistan government has not officially responded to the request. But, Pakistan’s request has faced indignation and derision in Afghanistan.
Former NDS director, Rahmatullah Nabil, has derided Pakistan’s request. In a tweet, Nabil accused Pakistani military and the ISI of thinking Afghanistan as their territory. “They never complied with Afghan government’s request for handover of Mullah Baradar, Sadar Ibrahim, Mullah Daoud, Mawlawi Mirahmad Gul, Mullah Abdul Salam and dozens of high ranking Taliban, who were arrested in Pakistan,” he said.
This sounds the alarm that there is a need to counter the normalization of Pakistan’s anti-Afghanistan espionage and terrorism. Perhaps, our leniency towards Taliban seems to have afforded the unscrupulous Pakistan a serious miscalculation. Even contemplating a notion as delirious as freeing a deranged criminal is silly. Islamabad is mistaking our forbearance for naivety.
It can also be construed that Pakistan’s formal request is an attempt to save the man supported by the country’s intelligence agency, the ISI.
