Pak no longer 'safe haven' for terrorists: Imran

February 17, 2020 16:39

There are no "safe havens" for terror groups in Pakistan "right now", Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday while acknowledging publicly that it was possibly not the case earlier.

Addressing an international conference marking 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees in the country, he said Pakistan seeks peace in Afghanistan and instability in the war-torn neighbouring country was not in its interest. Khan's assertion on terror safe havens came as the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money laundering watchdog, began a crucial meeting in Paris where Pakistan is trying to wriggle out of being blacklisted for not doing enough to combat terror financing.

The United States, India and Afghanistan have long accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to terror groups like the Taliban, the Haqqani network, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed. "I can tell you that there are no safe havens here," Khan said at a conference in Islamabad also attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

"Whatever the situation might have been in the past, right now, I can tell you... there is one thing we want: peace in Afghanistan." Khan said. He admitted that it was possible that such safe heavens were operating in the country after 9/11 in the Afghan refugee camps, The News reported.

"How is the government capable of checking how militants operate from the camps," Khan said, adding that it was not possible because the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan have had a population of over 100,000. Prime Minister Khan's assertion came after Afghanistan's second vice president, Sarwar Danish accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban to recruit new fighters from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan to launch attacks in his country. -- PTI

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