Afghan president accuses Pakistan of failing to move against Taliban

FE Team | Published: February 02, 2018 22:42:58

KABUL, Feb 02 (Reuters): Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday accused neighboring Pakistan of failing to move against the Taliban and pledged a new security plan for Kabul after hundreds of people were killed and wounded in two deadly attacks on the capital last month. Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of aiding terrorists by giving shelter and aid to leaders of the Taliban insurgency, a charge denied by Pakistan, which points to the thousands of its own citizens killed by militant violence over the years.
"We are waiting for Pakistan to act," Ghani said in a televised address after weekly prayers, in which he accused Pakistan of being the "Taliban center".
A recent attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and a suicide bombing on a crowded city street a week later have stoked public anger in Afghanistan and stepped up pressure on Ghani's Western-backed government to improve security. The attacks, which killed more than 130 people and wounded hundreds more, were claimed by the Taliban, which is fighting to drive out international troops and re-establish its form of strict Islamic law in Afghanistan.
Afghan and US officials say the Haqqani network, a militant group affiliated with the Taliban and believed to be based in Pakistan, was responsible.
"The attack is not against our men, women or children but against the Afghan nation and it requires a national, comprehensive response," Ghani said, adding that security officials would present a new plan on Sunday.
Ghani said 11 arrests had been made and a complete list of individuals Kabul believed to be behind the attacks as well as the networks that supported them had been given to Pakistani authorities.
But it was unclear what steps would be taken to improve the last major security plan in Kabul, which established a string of extra checkpoints and heavy vehicle controls after a truck bomb killed 150 people in the city last May.