Suicide attack on security forces: In a first, Taliban interim govt asked to hand over Bahadar

ISLAMABAD: In a first, Pakistan summoned Afghanistan embassy’s representative on Tuesday and asked the Taliban’s interim government to apprehend Hafiz Gul Bahadar, chief of his own faction of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) based in Afghanistan, following the group claimed responsibility for November 26 suicide attack on security forces in Bannu.

Informed sources maintained that a representative of the Afghanistan Embassy in Islamabad was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Pakistan’s strong condemnation was expressed on the suicide attack perpetrated on the security forces convoy in Bannu district on 26 November by an Afghan national. Hafiz Gul Bahadur group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The sources maintained that the Afghanistan embassy’s representative was conveyed the government of Pakistan’s demand to apprehend Hafiz Gul Bahadar and hand him over to Pakistan.

The Afghanistan representative was conveyed to fully investigate and take action against perpetrators and abettors of the Bannu attack and also take immediate verifiable actions against all terrorist groups and their sanctuaries. It was also conveyed to prevent the use of Afghanistan soil for terrorism against Pakistan.

At least two civilians had died and 10 others including three Pakistan Army soldiers injured in a suicide attack on a convoy of security forces in Baka Khel area in Bannu district on Sunday.

In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Monday that a motorcycle-borne suicide bomber detonated himself on a security forces’ convoy on Sunday, adding that the bomber was affiliated with the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group and “later identified as an Afghan national”.

Pakistan has been asking the Afghan Taliban’s interim government time and again to take action against the Afghanistan-based outlawed TTP which has been involved in the incidents of terrorism. However, the interim Afghan government remains reluctant to take action against the group and even refuses to accept the existence of the group in Afghanistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023