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The Pakistani government was criticized by the Taliban for attributing responsibility for the Peshawar mosque explosion to Afghanistan.
Amir Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister for the Taliban, urged Pakistan to look into the Peshawar attack rather than lay the blame for the terror carnage on its neighboring Afghanistan. The Taliban said, “Don’t hold people accountable for your own mistakes.”
At least 101 people, mostly police officers, were killed in a suicide bombing on January 30 at a mosque in the Peshawar Police Lines area.
Amir Muttaqi argued that Afghanistan is not a refuge for terrorists and urged Pakistan to look into the Peshawar incident rather than assigning blame.
He asserted that China, Central Asia, and Iran would have been affected by terrorism if Afghanistan had been its epicenter.
He advised Pakistani leaders to find a domestic solution to their security issues rather than “sowing the seeds of animosity” between the two nations while addressing a group in the capital, Kabul.
Voice of America reported that Pakistani authorities quickly accused the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), of carrying out what they claimed was a suicide bombing and suggested the violence originated in Afghanistan.
Amir Muttaqi echoed the doubts and concerns being voiced by detractors in Pakistan following the extensive damage brought on by the explosion and stated, “War and bomb explosions are commonplace in our area. However, no single suicide bomber has blown up mosque roofs in the last 20 years, killing hundreds of people.”
The TTP, which the United States has labeled as a global terrorist organization, has long carried out lethal terrorist operations in Pakistan, and its leadership is said to be in charge of the bloodshed from safe havens in Afghanistan. The Peshawar mosque bombing, however, has been officially rejected by the Pakistani Taliban, according to VOA.
A suicide bomber entered the mosque as a guest on Tuesday, according to Moazzam Jah Ansari, the provincial police head, and detonated up to 12 kg of explosives that had been delivered to the location in fragments earlier.
Recent terrorist acts in Pakistan, many of which were claimed by the TTP, have strained ties between the two nations.
In order to ensure that the Afghan interim government keeps its promises, Pakistan is considering its options to combat the resurgence of terrorism, according to people familiar with the situation.
In the meantime, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have become so desperate that they are now demonstrating for their rights.
“This is a case of total loss of faith in the government. They have been needlessly dying in the Establishment’s double games, and nobody is doing anything to stop it “Mohsin Dawar, NA-48, North Waziristan, member of the national assembly, tweeted.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police sang, “We know all the unknown folks,” in an unprecedented demonstration in front of the Peshawar Press Club.
Social media videos show groups of police officers yelling anti-terrorism slogans.
For the first time ever, the provincial police have demonstrated against terrorism.
