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ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;Pakistan on Thursday expressed serious concern at the UN over the presence of militant groups operating from Afghan territory, saying they were responsible for deadly attacks inside Pakistan. Pakistan&rsquo;s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, told the council that Afghan soil was being used by groups including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the Majeed Brigade, Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), and Al-Qaeda to plan and orchestrate attacks. &ldquo;These groups have been responsible for some of the most heinous terrorist attacks against Pakistan and incidents of hostage-taking,&rdquo; Ahmad said. He said recent attacks claimed by the BLA and Islamic State had resulted in the deaths of 80 Pakistanis, describing them as &ldquo;dastardly and cowardly.&rdquo; Pakistan voted in favor of a UN resolution extending the mandate of the monitoring team overseeing sanctions against the Taliban for another 12 months, Ahmad said, welcoming the unanimous adoption of the measure and praising US efforts to build consensus. Ahmad reiterated Islamabad&rsquo;s call for Afghan territory not to be used for attacks against neighboring countries and urged efforts to prevent external actors from exploiting the situation. He said the resolution sent a clear message to Afghanistan&rsquo;s Taliban authorities that their territory should not be used to threaten other countries and that Afghan groups or individuals should not support militants operating abroad. The resolution also urged member states to prevent kidnappers and militant groups from benefiting from ransom payments or political concessions and to ensure the safe release of hostages, he added. Ahmad called on the Taliban to honor their counter-terrorism commitments and take sustained and verifiable action against militant groups. He also pointed to broader challenges facing Afghanistan, including a humanitarian crisis, deteriorating human rights conditions, particularly for women and girls, economic difficulties, natural disasters, political exclusion, and drug trafficking. Ahmad said the UN monitoring team played an important role in providing the council with insights on Afghanistan&rsquo;s security landscape and expressed hope it would continue to support the sanctions committee&rsquo;s work. &ldquo;It is for the Taliban to decide what path they wish to choose for Afghanistan, whether isolation or peace and prosperity as a responsible member of the international community,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;

Security

Pakistan told the UN Security Council that militant groups operating from Afghan territory are responsible for deadly attacks in Pakistan, urging the Taliban to curb terrorism and uphold counter-terrorism commitments

Pakistan raises concern over militant groups in Afghanistan at UN

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad of Pakistan has called for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire across all Occupied Palestinian Territories, along with the lifting of the blockade to ensure unfettered humanitarian access. Ambassador Ahmad, Pakistan&#39;s permanent representative to the UN, stated this in a speech at the UN General Assembly &ndash; Veto Debate (Palestinian Question) on October 1, 2025, according to a post shared by the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN on its official X handle. &lsquo;Truth is stark&rsquo;In his statement, Pakistan&rsquo;s ambassador, while highlighting the plight of Palestinians, said, &ldquo;The truth is stark. Gaza has been pulverized. Families huddle under broken concrete, searching for children who will never return. Hunger stalks every street; famine has already taken hold in Gaza City and threatens to engulf Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-7" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-7&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1973550763587596722&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=12a429ca929eb615d422aa88b9d67c5c17cea9fa&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="width: 550px; height: 743px; min-height: 0px; position: static; visibility: visible;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div></div>&ldquo;More than 66,000 Palestinians &mdash; the vast majority women and children &mdash; have been killed. Homes, schools, and hospitals have been deliberately wiped out. This is not war. It is the erasure of a people&rsquo;s future. Israel, the occupying power, must be held fully accountable,&rdquo; he stated. Anguish and concern&nbsp;He said, &ldquo;We align ourselves with the statement delivered by the Permanent Representative of Denmark on behalf of the 10 elected members of the Security Council, including Pakistan, who jointly tabled the draft resolution that was vetoed. And that is the reason we are here. We greatly appreciate the role played by Denmark in coordinating the E-10.&rdquo; Expressing anguish and deep concern at the Security Council&rsquo;s failure to act, he stated that &ldquo;a resolution intended to halt the carnage and deliver humanitarian relief was blocked &mdash; leaving millions to their unfortunate fate.&rdquo; Ambassador Asim said for the elected 10 members of the Council, this was not routine diplomacy. It was an urgent effort to answer the cries of a people trapped in bombing, rubble, famine, and despair. The failure to move forward was bitterly disappointing. &ldquo;But paralysis in one chamber must not mean incapacity across the United Nations and the international community,&rdquo; he added. &lsquo;Cautiously but sincerely&rsquo;&nbsp;The ambassador stated that the recent consultations held by President Trump with Arab and OIC leaders, as well as the announcement of a US plan, are noteworthy developments that have been widely welcomed. &ldquo;We hope &mdash; cautiously but sincerely, that such initiatives can help deliver what is most urgently needed: an immediate ceasefire, an end to the war, unfettered humanitarian assistance, and, above all, a credible political horizon towards Palestinian statehood,&rdquo; he added. Pakistan, as part of these consultations, will work to ensure that efforts are judged not by promises, but by results: stopping the killing, ending the occupation, reuniting families, rebuilding Gaza, and guaranteeing protection and dignity to the Palestinian people, the Pakistani envoy stressed. Joint statement&nbsp;The ambassador, regarding the recently released joint statement, stated: &ldquo;Let me note in this regard, that in a Joint Statement, the Foreign Ministers of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, T&uuml;rkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt welcomed President Trump&rsquo;s efforts, including his announcement that he would not allow the annexation of the West Bank, and reaffirmed their joint commitment to work with the United States to end the war in Gaza through a comprehensive deal, one that ensures unrestricted delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid, prevents displacement of the Palestinians, secures the release of hostages, achieves full Israeli withdrawal, rebuilds Gaza, and creates a path for a just peace based on the two-state solution, under which Gaza is fully integrated with the West Bank in a Palestinian state in accordance with international law, as key to achieving regional stability and security.&rdquo; Five urgent calls&nbsp;Ambassador Ahmad added: In line with these commitments, today, from this podium, we make five urgent calls: i. An immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire across all Occupied Palestinian Territories; ii. The lifting of the blockade and unfettered humanitarian access; iii. The release of all hostages and Palestinian prisoners; iv. A complete end to forced displacement, settlements, and any designs for annexation; v. A credible, time-bound political process in line with international legitimacy, to establish an independent, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. &ldquo;Pakistan will remain steadfast in solidarity with the Palestinian people,&rdquo; the Pakistani ambassador stated.

Middle East

Ambassador Ahmad issues five urgent calls: a permanent ceasefire, lifting the blockade, release of hostages and prisoners, ending displacement and annexation, and a political process for a sovereign Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders.

Articles tagged with "Asim Iftikhar Ahmad"

Pakistan raises concern over militant groups in Afghanistan at UN

Pakistan urges immediate ceasefire, end to Gaza blockade at UN