Taliban downplays Imran Khan's remark on Islamic State attacking Pakistan from Afghanistan

Taliban's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Monday downplayed remarks made by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) summit in Islamabad that the Islamic State attacks Pakistan from Afghanistan.

Muttaqi said at a press conference in Kabul that the remark made by Khan is not an insult to Afghanistan. He added that his remarks were critical of the former governments, which may have therefore caused former government officials to feel compelled to show a reaction, reported Tolo News.

"It was a summit, everyone has an opinion," said Muttaqi, adding, "Imran Khan criticized the former (Afghan) governments. I think officials of the former governments felt obligated to react, I don't see (Khan's remarks) as insulting."

On Sunday, at the OIC Summit, Khan said, "We have had attacks from (the) Afghan border, from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), into Pakistan."

Khan's remarks sparked a response from former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Afghans on social media.

Karzai called Khan's remarks "an attempt to sow discord among Afghans, and an insult to the Afghan people."

"Allegations that ISIS is active in Afghanistan, threatening Pakistan from Afghanistan, is clear propaganda and in fact the opposite is true. The threat of ISIS has been directed from Pakistan against Afghanistan from the very onset," Karzai added in a series of tweets.

Muttaqi said that if the Pakistan PM meant that a weak Afghan government would not be able to control the Islamic State threat, that is another issue, and he hopes it will never happen.

( With inputs from ANI )

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