Foreign minister asks stakeholders to keep eye on spoilers

F.P. Report

KARACHI: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday condemned the gun and bomb attack in Kabul and expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incident that saw country’s top political leader Abdullah Abdullah escaping unharmed.

“The attack on a public event in Kabul is a coward bid and Afghan Taliban has already denied their involvement in it,” he said while talking to media.

He said that the attack was carried out by those who do not want peace in the neighbouring country. “Those against peace efforts in Afghanistan are within and outside the country,” he said adding that the ones who wanted to use the Afghan soil for their vested interests do not want peace.

“We all have to keep a close eye on all of those who want to sabotage peace efforts in Afghanistan,” he said and demanded of the United States (US) and other stake holders for keeping an eye on the spoilers. He stressed upon all stake holders to overcome difficulties during the way forward towards peace with restraint.

It is pertinent to mention here that gunmen attacked a ceremony in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday where a top Afghan political leader, Abdullah Abdullah, was present but escaped unharmed.

Two were killed and 18 wounded at the event, according to Afghan officials, the first big attack on the capital since a troop withdrawal agreement was signed in Doha between the United States and the Taliban group.

The Taliban said in a statement they were not involved in the attack. “The attack started with a boom, apparently a rocket landed in the area, Abdullah and some other politicians … escaped the attack unhurt,” Abdullah’s spokesman, Fraidoon Kwazoon, who was also present, told Reuters by telephone.

The gathering marked the anniversary of the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, an ethnic Hazara leader who was killed in 1995 after being taken prisoner by the Taliban.