ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi stated on Wednesday that Pakistan would take action against terrorists found within its borders, including the Haqqani network.
‘We have asked them to share any intelligence about the Haqqani network, we will take action,’ Abbasi said in an interview to Bloomberg.
The premier also brushed aside US accusations that Pakistan provided sanctuary to militant groups, saying that attacks in the region were originating from Afghanistan.
‘We have pinpointed even the sanctuaries of the attackers. Cross-border infiltration from Afghanistan is the order of the day’ he noted.
Regarding the mounting US pressure after Donald Trump’s harsh South-Asia policy, the premier declared that there was no room for US to take a tough stance here because Pakistan was already fighting the war against terror.
‘Somebody gives us intelligence and we will act upon it. It is our war, not theirs’ he asserted.
To a question regarding Pakistan would take action against Taliban leaders who had allegedly lived for years in Quetta, Abbasi replied: We will act against them if they really exist.
The chief executive reiterated that Trump’s troop increase and support to Afghanistan will end in failure urging the Afghan government and the Taliban to indulge in peace talks.
‘We have assured them of whatever assistance we would be able to offer, but things are quite fragmented on that side,’ he said and added that Pakistan had tried twice, but the talks have been sabotaged.
When the legislator was asked about the release of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief, Hafiz Saeed, Abbasi said that the court, a three-judge bench, had released him saying there are no charges against him.
‘The country has a law you know’ he added.
Referring to Hafiz Saeed, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said India had only accused the Lej head without providing any evidence.
‘Prosecute him internationally if there is substance to these charges’, he concluded.
