Kabul rejects claim that Afghanistan behind Peshawar attack

By

Staff

A Pakistani soldier checks vehicles at the main entrance of an airbase that was attacked by suspected Taliban militants, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015 in Peshawar, Pakistan. Suspected Taliban militants launched a brazen attack on a Pakistani military base on Friday. The Pakistani army quickly blamed militants from neighboring Afghanistan, which Islamabad routinely accuses of harboring terrorists who launch attacks across their porous border. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

KABUL, Afghanistan — The government of Afghanistan has rejected Pakistan’s claim that a militant attack on a military base near Peshawar was planned and controlled from Afghanistan.

A statement from Kabul’s presidential palace Saturday says it never has and never will allow its territory to be used against other states.

Pakistani authorities blamed militants from neighboring Afghanistan for the attack on Badber military base on Friday that killed 29 people. Army spokesman Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said the attackers came from and were being handled by superiors in Afghanistan, though he stressed he did not mean the government in Kabul was behind the assault.

The Afghan government statement says Kabul and Islamabad should continue working together to eliminate the threat of terrorism.