Pakistan’s Information Ministry says the Taliban spokesman’s allegation lacks factual basis and accuses the regime of using anti-Pakistan propaganda to divert attention from internal challenges.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has rejected as “misleading and fabricated” a claim by Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid that Pakistani forces were present during recent armed clashes in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province.
According to a fact-check issued by the ministry, Mujahid made the allegation during an interview with Afghan media outlet Aamaj News, claiming that the Pakistan Army was involved in the fighting in Badakhshan. The ministry described the claim as false and baseless.
The ministry said the violence in Badakhshan reflects Afghanistan’s own internal security and administrative challenges. It said available independent reports indicate that the clashes are linked to internal armed resistance against the Taliban regime.
Pakistan has consistently supported a peaceful, stable and sovereign Afghanistan, the ministry said, adding that Islamabad has no interest in destabilizing its neighboring country.
The Information Ministry urged the Taliban regime to focus on the growing problems arising from its governance rather than leveling allegations against Pakistan.
It further alleged that the Taliban regime was resorting to anti-Pakistan propaganda to conceal what it described as declining influence and growing resistance within Afghanistan.
Experts, according to the ministry’s fact-check, said the allegations were aimed at giving an external dimension to Afghanistan’s internal armed clashes. They argued that blaming Pakistan could serve to divert attention from the Taliban regime’s domestic security and governance challenges.
Recent reporting has documented armed opposition activity in Badakhshan, including clashes involving dissident Taliban figures, underscoring that the province has faced internal security tensions.
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