Kabul asks Islamabad to act against all terror groups

The Afghan government on Saturday again called on Pakistan to implement the Peace Quartet commitments on eliminating all terror groups without any discrimination.

The Afghan Presidential Palace in a statement stressed that regional countries -- particularly Afghanistan and Pakistan -- must jointly fight terrorism, Tolo News reported.

The statement came in reaction to Thursday's suicide attack on the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Pakistan's Sindh province in which over 80 persons died and nearly 250 were injured.

Pakistan has blamed the Afghanistan based Jamaat-ul-Ahrar terrorist group for the suicide bombing. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had in 2015 sworn allegiances to the IS.

Kabul expects Islamabad to take immediate action against the terrorist groups active in Pakistan who threaten Afghanistan.

Afghanistan regards the Peace Quartet agreement as a comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism and emphasised that now the time has arrived for Pakistan to implement the provisions of the document.

The Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and China on the Afghan Peace and Reconciliation process in January 2016 called on the Taliban to enter into talks with the Afghan government in order to resolve differences politically.

This followed the QCG's second meeting here to draw up the roadmap for peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

"The members are commitment to a robust effort to eliminate all forms of terrorist groups, regardless of their national origin, operating in their respective territories," a QCG statement had said.