Pak slams Afghan NSA's remarks on terror links

Pakistan slammed Afghan National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta for alleging that the country and its military intelligence were linked to terrorists, saying it would not be "distracted by such unfair remarks".

Reacting to the allegations made by Spanta in an op-ed in The Washington Post on Monday, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the piece "contained nothing new but a rehash of hackneyed and baseless allegations against Pakistan and its security agencies".

Spanta had accused Pakistan of harbouring Taliban and Al Qaeda militants. Pakistan "continues to provide sanctuary and support to the (Taliban's) Quetta Shura, the Haqqani network, the Hekmatyar group and al-Qaeda," he wrote.

"Unfortunately, the military-intelligence establishment of one of our neighbours still regards Afghanistan as its sphere of influence," Spanta wrote. These were Spanta's "personal views and were not in consonance with the excellent mutual understanding and cooperation that existed between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the ongoing fight against terrorism", Basit said.

"Pakistan will not be distracted by such unfair remarks, and will continue working with Afghanistan and the international community to eliminate militancy and terrorism," he said.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have recognised "how imperative it was to defeat the pernicious evil of terrorism for achieving stability and prosperity in our region", the spokesman said.

The two countries have been engaged in a war of words on the Pakistani military establishment's alleged links with the Taliban and other militant groups.