Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, today (Wednesday) during a program at the Media Center, rejected the Pentagon's claim regarding the presence of ISIS and the recent statements of Pakistan's Prime Minister regarding TTP activities in Afghanistan, APA reports citing Tolonews.
The Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defense stressed that Afghanistan's territory is currently safe and will not be used against any country, including its neighbors.
In this program, Fitrat said: "ISIS has been completely eradicated in Afghanistan and has no presence. The claims made are baseless."
The Chief of Staff also added that TTP does not have any bases in Afghanistan, and countries should not fear Afghanistan's territory.
He further said: "We all know that TTP has clear bases in Pakistan and controls areas there. They launch operations against Pakistani military forces from there."
Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and General Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman Air Force Major, had claimed that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and ISIS have an active presence in Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, stating that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan organizes its operations from Afghan territory, said: "It is no longer a secret that terrorists launch their attacks from Afghan soil. We not only shared the sensitivity of this issue with the Afghan side but also launched a major operation against the terrorists."
Meanwhile, the Pentagon spokesman Major Ryder said: “The Taliban is currently the government in Afghanistan, and I'll use that term loosely, and so as the so-called ruling entity there, clearly there is a difference between the ISIS-K but there are many other terror groups that are resident right now in Afghanistan.”
The Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Emirate also said yesterday (Tuesday) in its annual report program that ISIS activities in Afghanistan have reached zero, and countries that have concerns in this regard have no proof of ISIS presence in Afghanistan.