Military

Pakistan military rejects Afghan charges

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, Jan 18, IRNA
Pakistan-Afghan claims
Pakistan military on Thursday rejected a claim from a captured Taliban spokesman that it is sheltering the movement's leader, Mullah Omar.

The Taliban spokesman Dr Muhammad Hanif made the statement under interrogation by Afghan intelligence, which recorded and distributed it to the media.

Afghan authorities said they arrested Dr Hanif from his home in eastern Ningrahar province on Monday.

"If the Afghan government has information it should share with us rather than pointing fingers at Pakistan," army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said.

Mullah Omar went into hiding after US-led forces toppled Afghanistan's regime in 2001.

Afghan officials regularly claim he is in Pakistan, the claim that has always been denied by Pakistan.

It seems that the statement from Taliban spokesman has been extracted under pressure, the Pakistani military spokesman told a private TV channel.

Pointing fingers at Pakistan is useless.

They (Afghans) must look into the problem inside Afghanistan, General sultan said, and added that the two countries should share intelligence and jointly work.

The Afghan intelligence agents had also quoted the captured Taliban spokesman as saying that Mullah Omar is living in the city of Quetta, under the protection of Pakistan's main intelligence agency.

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