Taliban regime not doing enough to stop attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has recognised Islamabad’s concerns over militant attacks launched from Afghan soil, saying the United States does not want Pakistan to be subjected to terrorism.

Addressing reporters in Atlanta after the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on Saturday, Rubio said Pakistan believed the Afghan Taliban were not doing enough to prevent attacks originating from their territory and had responded with action of its own.

“Pakistan is concerned about terrorist attacks that are being sponsored from the territory of Afghanistan. They feel that the Taliban is not doing enough to constrain those attacks, and they’ve taken action against it,” Rubio said.

“We obviously have heard those concerns on their part. We obviously don’t want them to be targeted by terrorism,” he added.

Rubio’s remarks came as Islamabad renewed its criticism of the Afghan Taliban regime over what it described as Kabul’s failure to address terrorist activity originating from Afghan soil.

In a statement on Saturday, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rejected remarks by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, accusing the leadership of shifting blame to Islamabad while ignoring what it called the central issue undermining bilateral relations: terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.

The ministry said Pakistan would not tolerate terrorist sanctuaries across the border and reserved the right to take all necessary measures under international law to eliminate threats to its national security.

It described the Taliban regime’s continued refusal to address terrorism as the principal obstacle to normal relations, saying Pakistan’s security would not be held hostage to the regime’s “inaction, evasions or misplaced priorities”.

Islamabad has repeatedly urged Kabul to take verifiable action against militant groups, particularly the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which Pakistani officials accuse of operating from Afghan territory. The Taliban authorities have denied allowing militants to use Afghanistan as a base for attacks against Pakistan.