RAWALPINDI: A senior commander of the banned militant group Daesh-K, Muhammad Ihsani alias Anwaar, has been killed in Afghanistan’s Mazar Sharif city, security sources said on Sunday.
Ihsani played a key role in facilitating terrorism in Pakistan. He was responsible for training Tajik suicide bombers and escorting them across the border into Pakistan to carry out attacks.
He was also the main facilitator in the Kocha Risaldar bombing in Peshawar, in which 67 people were martyred in 2022, sources said.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in cross-border terror incidents since Taliban rulers returned to Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan.
In August, the incidents surged by 74% compared to July, according to a report by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS). The Islamabad-based think tank recorded 194 fatalities from militant attacks during the month.
Recently, Pakistan, China, Iran and Russia have also expressed deep concern over the presence of terrorist organisations operating from Afghanistan, including Al-Qaeda, the banned TTP, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other similar groups.
The four countries issued a statement after their fourth quadripartite meeting on Afghanistan, convened by Russia on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly session in New York on Friday.
They urged the Afghan authorities to take “effective, concrete and verifiable actions” against terrorist outfits, dismantle training camps, cut off financing, and prevent recruitment and access to weapons.
The four sides also emphasised that Afghan soil must not be used against neighbours or beyond, while also pressing for the non-discriminatory elimination of all militant groups.
