Govt will not allow TTP to carry out terrorism in Pakistan: interior minister

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that the government will not allow Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to perpetrate terrorism in Pakistan.

Addressing a media briefing in Islamabad on Wednesday, Rashid said the Afghan Taliban have given assurances that they will not allow their land to be used against any other country, including Pakistan.

He mentioned that Pakistan will also not allow its land to be used against Afghanistan. "We want peace and stability in Afghanistan as it is also important for Pakistan," he stated.

India should refrain from using Afghan soil against Pakistan: Hekmatyar

The interior minister pointed out that Prime Minister Imran Khan will soon issue a detailed statement regarding the Afghan situation. He maintained that a desk in the Interior Ministry is working round the clock to facilitate the evacuation from Afghanistan.

Rashid said a comprehensive security system is being introduced under which all the provincial capitals will be linked with Islamabad.

Earlier, addressing a press conference in Kabul, Taliban Spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that the Taliban have offered a pledge of reconciliation, vowing no revenge against opponents and to respect women’s rights in a “different” rule of Afghanistan from two decades ago.

“All those in the opposite side are pardoned from A to Z,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told foreign and local reporters, revealing his identity for the first time.

Taliban pledge to be ‘different’, as Afghans flee

“We will not seek revenge.”

Mujahid said the new regime would be “positively different” from their 1996-2001 stint, infamous for deaths by stoning, girls being banned from school, and women working in contact with men.

“If the question is based on ideology and beliefs, there is no difference... but if we calculate it based on experience, maturity, and insight, no doubt there are many differences,” Mujahid told reporters.

He also said they were “committed to letting women work following the principles of Islam”, without offering specifics.