“Since 2022, more than 214 Afghan terrorists, including suicide bombers, have been neutralized in Pakistan”
Permanent representative of the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad Photo: APP
Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that terrorism from Afghan soil poses the “serious threat” to Pakistan’s security as the Taliban support terrorist groups and allow them safe passage to operate across the border with impunity and free will.
“Afghanistan is once again a safe haven for terrorist groups and proxies, with devastating consequences and increasing security challenges for its immediate neighbors, especially Pakistan, and the region and beyond,” said Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, during a debate on the situation in the country.
“Terrorist entities including ISIL-K, Al-Qaeda, TTP, ETIM, BLA and Majeed Brigade enjoy safe havens in the territory of Afghanistan, with dozens of terrorist camps that enable cross-border infiltration and violent attacks, including suicide bombings,” he said, adding that there was evidence of cooperation between these, coordinated terrorist groups, trade advertisements and terrorist groups. attack against Pakistan using Afghan soil.
“And not surprisingly, an adversary in the region, opportunist and spoiler, which has always moved quickly to intensify its sponsorship of terrorist activity through material, technical and financial support, to terrorist groups and proxies active against Pakistan from Afghan soil,” the Pakistani envoy said in an apparent reference to India, whose relations with the Taliban have significantly improved the reopening of the Indian embassy in Kabul.
Indeed, India’s speech at the Council stood in stark contrast to its previous condemnation of Taliban policies. India, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said, “deeply values its civilizational relations and centuries-old ties of friendship with Afghanistan, and this history continues to guide our actions in forging deeper ties” with Afghans.
In his remarks, Ambassador Asim Ahmad, the Pakistani envoy, said Pakistan had been in dialogue with the Taliban authorities regularly over the past four years, but unfortunately instead of seeing them take concrete, effective and decisive action against terrorist groups, “we saw a steep increase in terrorist attacks against Pakistan; planned, financed and orchestrated under their watch.”
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“This year alone, we have lost close to 1,200 lives to terrorism originating from Afghanistan. Since 2022, more than 214 Afghan terrorists, including suicide bombers, have been neutralized in Pakistan during CT (counter-terrorism) operations.”
He linked border clashes directly to terrorism and security and called on UNAMA (the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) to provide an objective assessment of border security.
Pakistan has supported the dialogue process in Doha and Istanbul, the Pakistani envoy said. However, if the Taliban does not take concrete and verifiable measures against terrorist groups, Pakistan will take all necessary defensive measures.
After hosting Afghan refugees for over four decades, Pakistan also believes that Afghans should return to their country in a dignified and orderly manner, he added.
Ambassador Asim Ahmad also said that the Taliban’s continued restrictions on women and girls were “inconsistent with Islamic traditions and norms of the Muslim community, as also highlighted by OIC countries on several occasions”.
Pakistan, he said, fully shares the concerns of the international community on the issue of human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
“No country wants peace and stability in Afghanistan more than Pakistan,” the Pakistani envoy added, urging the Taliban to foster an environment conducive to sincere dialogue, address Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and come out of a “state of denial” that serves no one.
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For her part, the US delegate said: “Quite simply, the Taliban are not bona fide interlocutors and they do not care about the welfare of the Afghan people.” They (Taliban) manipulate international support, ignore the basic needs of Afghans and show little willingness to fulfill their international obligations.
If the Taliban prevents the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) from carrying out its tasks, then the Council should consider realigning its mandate to reflect this reality, she said.
In a briefing to the 15-member council, the deputy secretary-general for Afghanistan Georgette Gagnon and the UN emergency coordinator Tom Fletcher said that almost half of the population will need protection and humanitarian assistance by 2026.
“Women and girls remain ‘systematically excluded’ from almost every aspect of public life,” Ms Gagnon said, as the ban on secondary and higher education for girls now enters its fourth year, depriving the country of future doctors, teachers and managers.
“Media freedom is increasingly restricted. Journalists face intimidation, detention and censorship, reducing the space for public debate and public participation,” she added.
Afghans — both women and men — also face daily intrusions under the de facto authorities’ “propagation of virtue and prevention of vice” law, she added, describing a pattern of systematic intrusion into privacy.
At the same time, humanitarian needs are increasing. Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian chief, said almost 22 million people will need help next year, with Afghanistan now among the world’s biggest humanitarian crises.
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“For the first time in four years, the number of people facing hunger has increased,” he warned. Some 17.4 million Afghans are now food insecure, while massive funding cuts have left the response “stretched to breaking point.”
More than 300 nutrition distribution points have closed, leaving 1.1 million children without life-saving nutrition, while 1.7 million are at risk of dying without treatment. The health system is also breaking: 422 health facilities were set to close by 2025, cutting off three million people from life-saving care.
Adding to the burden, Afghanistan has seen record refugee returns, with over 2.6 million Afghans returning in 2025 alone, bringing the two-year total to more than four million. Most arrive with few possessions and are accepted into already poor communities.
“Women and children made up 60% of all returns this year,” Fletcher noted, returning to a country where women are excluded from education, work and, in some cases, health care.
