The Taliban regime has rejected Pakistan’s repeated claims that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder Masood Azhar is hiding in Afghanistan, with a senior Afghan Foreign Ministry official confirming that the UN-designated terrorist is not in the country, reported PTI.
The development comes as Pakistan faces renewed scrutiny over its efforts to crack down on terror groups and their leadership. Islamabad has long claimed that Azhar fled to Afghanistan after crossing the Durand Line in May 2019 and has remained at large there.
Kabul, meanwhile, reiterated that Afghan territory would not be used against any other country.
Azhar remains one of India's most-wanted terrorists and is accused of masterminding several major attacks in the country, including the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing. The UN Security Council designated him a global terrorist in May 2019.
Pakistan's claim about Azhar's whereabouts has also come amid international scrutiny of its counter-terror financing efforts. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had placed Pakistan on its grey list from 2018 to 2022 over deficiencies in combating money laundering and terror financing.
Among the concerns cited by the global watchdog were Pakistan's failure to effectively curb terror financing linked to groups such as JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba and weak implementation of financial sanctions against UN-designated terrorists.
To secure its removal from the grey list, Pakistan took several measures, including banning JeM, LeT and their affiliated organisations and prosecuting leaders of the groups. Azhar was convicted in absentia by a Pakistani court in 2021.
Pakistan was removed from the grey list in 2022 after completing the required action plans, although the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) continued to review aspects of its counter-terror financing framework at the request of FATF.
The issue of Azhar's arrest has remained among the areas under scrutiny. Pakistani authorities have maintained that they cannot arrest him because he is no longer in the country.
The Taliban had previously rejected Pakistan's claims about Azhar's presence in Afghanistan. In September 2022, a Taliban spokesperson said Azhar was not in Afghanistan and that Pakistan had not formally communicated any information to Kabul about his alleged presence.
(With inputs from PTI)