The Taliban took the unusual step today of insisting that it, not Pakistan, controls the Haqqani network, with Islamabad under growing US pressure to cut alleged ties with the group.
The militia advised Pakistan to prioritise 'Islamic and national' interests and stand firm in the face of 'America's two-faced and implacable politics'.
"Neither are our bases in Pakistan nor do we need residence outside of our country,' said the English-language statement in the name of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan -- the Taliban's name for itself -- on its Voice of Jihad website.