'No State Must Feel Free To Sponsor Terror': Afghan VP Saleh Demands Sanction On Pakistan For Supporting Taliban Terrorists

Afghanistan Vice President Amrullah Saleh has sought sanction on Pakistan for providing shelter and support to Taliban terrorists.

Responding to a statement by US Congressman Mike Waltz that Taliban "only respect strength and leverage, not feckless pleas for peace", Saleh on Wednesday (11 August) said that the official name of the Taliban for the last 20 years has been "Quetta Shura".

"Quetta is a Pakistani city and capital of Baluchistan province," Saleh said in an apparent reference to how the Taliban terrorists have been carrying out their terrorist activities from the safe havens provided by Pakistan.

The Afghan VP also demanded sanction on Pakistan for providing support to the Taliban, which is making rapid advances in Afghanistan after the United States announced withdrawal of its troops from the war-torn country.

Saleh, who also served as the director of the Afghan intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) from 2004 to 2010, is a vocal critic of the Pakistan Army and ISI's interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs.

Earlier on Tuesday (10 August), the Afghan VP said that the leaders of the Taliban are based in Pakistan.

"The Taliban leaders are based in Pakistan. No State must feel free to sponsor terror and get away with it," Saleh said in a tweet.

Saleh had earlier also urged the United Nations and other international organisations to work with the Afghan government in providing assistance to massive number of people who have sought refuge in Kabul due to "brutality, revenge killing, loot and rape" by the Taliban terrorists.