Pak extradites 27 Taliban suspects to Afghanistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], Jan 31 (ANI): Pakistan handed at least 27 suspects belonging to Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network to Afghanistan, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry Office said on Wednesday.

According to The Express Tribune, the extradition of the suspects took place back in November 2017, before Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa's maiden visit to Kabul.

However, the handover had been kept confidential till now.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry Office declined to share more details of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network.

Kabul in the past asked Islamabad to hand over the Afghan Taliban suspects who are allegedly hiding in Pakistan.

Also, this was the first time that the suspects of Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network were extradited to Afghanistan.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained frosty due to the latter's constant blame on Pakistan's non-cooperation on tackling terrorism and insurgency and also sending terrorists to Afghanistan for conducting suicide attacks over the years.

This comes at a time when Afghanistan has been ravaged by a series of deadly terrorist attacks during the last few days, particularly in Kabul, which killed nearly 150 people and wounded hundreds more.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani earlier refused to take a phone call from Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in connection to the recent terrorist attacks in Kabul.

United States President Donald Trump said on Monday that the U.S. would not hold any talks with Taliban as they were killing innocents in Afghanistan.

He had called for "decisive action" by all countries against the Taliban after the recent attacks. (ANI)