By Abasin Zaheer
The Pakistan Army and intelligence establishment are aiding 28 insurgents groups that are toeing their line, Afghan officials alleged on Wednesday.
The Pakistani security agencies were using the militant outfits to achieve the goals that they could not realise themselves, the officials told a media briefing in Kabul.
Afghanistan Regional Studies Centre Advisor Abdur Rashid Waziri and Wolesi Jirga member Jafar Mihdavi said two militant organisations -- Al-Badr and Al-Shams -- launched their operations in the neighbouring country in 1970.
But the number of terrorist outfits in Pakistan has now risen to 28, including Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Jamaat Daawa, Jamiat Markaz-i-Islami, Harkat Jihad-i-Islami and Harkat Jihad-i-Islami, according to Waziri.
"Pakistan plays a significant role. First they support us by providing a place to hide which is really important. Secondly they provide us with weapons," he said, according to excerpts provided by the BBC.
He also accused Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, Harkatul Mujahideen, Hezbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Sipah-i-Muhammad, Harkat-i-Hamsar, Jaish-i-Mohammad, Jaish-i-Muhammad, Lashkar-i-Muhammad, Hezb-i-Tahrir, Ansar-i-Islam, Lashkar-i-Islam, the Haqqani network and others of involvement in terrorism.
"All these groups are openly conducting terror operations in Pakistan but no one is preventing their activities," Waziri claimed, saying the organistaions had 200,000 members and bases in different cities.
Equipped by the Pakistan Army and some Arab countries, the groups were mostly busy conducting operations in Afghanistan, India and Kashmir, the advisor said, without giving further details.
Parliamentarian Dr. Jafar Mihdavi, citing the Ashura Day bomb attack on a Shiite shrine in Kabul, assailed Pakistan for using the rebels to stoke sectarian strife in Afghanistan. Last week's explosion, claimed by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-i-Jhangavi, killed 80 mourners and wounded 190 others.
Mihdavi asked the Karzai administration to do all it could to frustrate efforts at fuelling sectarian tensions in the country. He accused Pakistan of using the groups under its influence to attain its goals in Afghanistan.
"To promote their shared interests, the extremist groups stage joint attacks. At times, they resort to infighting to implement their agenda," Mihdavi said.