New Delhi: Spokesperson of Taliban (Afghanistan) Zabiullah Mujahid refused the claim of Pakistan that says Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar in Afghanistan. A spokesperson said, “JeM chief Masood Azhar is not in Afghanistan, and We will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against any other country,”
Mujahid – in an interview with Afghanistan’s media said that he has seen the news in the media, but this is not true. Nobody has made such a demand from us. He said, “Such organizations can operate on Pakistan’s soil, and even under official patronage,”
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban government also rejected media reports that the JeM chief had sought refuge in Afghanistan.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban government, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, “We reiterate that the IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) does not allow any armed opposition in its territory to operate against any other country,”
Azhar is a fugitive released by India in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane IC-814 in 1999. He was serving a prison term in India for kidnappings of Western tourists in the country. After his release in 1999, Azhar formed the JeM and scripted many audacious terror strikes in India.
Pakistan has banned the JeM which is accused by India of several terrorist attacks, including the Pulwama attack in February 2019, which brought Pakistan and India to the brink of a nuclear exchange.
(Vinayak)
