UNHRC: Afghanistan, Pakistan lock horns

In a rare outburst at the United Nations, Afghanistan on Thursday accused Pakistan of state-sponsored terrorism and told Islamabad that there cannot be a distinction between “good” and “bad” terrorists, surprising observers at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Suraya Dalil, the Afghan representative, said “facts behind state-sponsored terrorism” can be substantiated by quoting on record former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, foreign policy adviser Sartaj Aziz and former ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani.

Dalil’s charges, which she made after a report on Afghanistan was presented by deputy high commissioner of human rights Kate Gilmore, were rejected by the Pakistan representative. However, after two rounds of “right of reply”, she insisted that the “evidence presented… was made up of hard facts”.

Recalling a series of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan this year that together left hundreds dead, she said: “Our investigations have declared that the attacks were organised, financed and sponsored outside our territory with composite methods and intricate intelligence.”

She said: “Afghanistan believes that there cannot be a distinction between good and bad terrorists. As long as a distinction between good and bad terrorism is maintained, we are all defeated.”

“The recent attacks on a hospital in Kabul as well as attacks in the shrine in Pakistan’s Sindh province serve as unmistakable proof that terror spares no boundaries and targets and that the deceptive classification of good and bad terrorists cost the lives of countless civilians in Pakistan.”