ISLAMABAD – Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has disclosed the dismissal of Afghan citizens from recruitment in the Pakistan Army.
In an interview with a private TV channel, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, while discussing the attacks from Afghanistan, stated that all terrorists of the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are based in Afghanistan, except for the 3 to 4 thousand terrorists that Imran Khan brought back to Pakistan, about which we were briefed in the National Assembly in 2022.
Khawaja Asif said that after that, no more terrorists returned at the state level, but infiltration still occurs. He said that there is no sanctity of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, whoever wants, comes here, resides here, gets identity cards, and even gets recruited in the army.
“As Defence Minister, I signed on two or three files on which Afghan officers were recruited in the army and they were expelled from the army. One of them was a captain and the other was a lieutenant,” said Khawaja Asif.
The defence minister further revealed that a soldier’s father wrote a letter admitting that he is an Afghan citizen, has been living in Pakistan for a long time, and has property and business in Quetta.
“We are not responsible for this kind of hospitality, we cannot bear it. During the previous PML-N government, we visited Afghanistan and requested the Afghan government that Afghan citizens are involved in the attacks in Pakistan, this infiltration should be stopped. We also provided them with evidence,” said the minister.
