Afghans carried out two suicide bombings in Pakistan, says Naqvi

Pakistan said on Thursday Afghan nationals carried out two deadly suicide bombings in its territory this week, amid sharpening tensions between the South Asian neighbours over militant violence.

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The involvement of Afghans in the attacks — one outside a courthouse in the capital on Tuesday, the other at a military school the day earlier — was “our major, serious concern,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told parliament.

“We have traced the Islamabad blast culprits. The suicide bomber was from Afghanistan,” he said, without offering any evidence. “It will be decided on a government-level what to do,” the minister told reporters when asked how the government would proceed with regards to Afghanistan.

Naqvi repeated accusations that the Afghan Taliban administration was supporting militants who attacked Pakistan.

The Afghan Taliban — which came to power in 2021 and has also accused Pakistan of backing Daesh-KP militants in its territory — denies that Pakistani militants are present on its soil.

A faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the first to hit the capital in nearly three years.

“We have also, on many occasions during operations against Daesh-KP, killed, neutralised, or captured Pakistani nationals,” Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters after the minister's televised speech.