No more sanctuary to Mullah Omar, Taliban: Pakistan

LONDON: Pakistan will no longer provide sanctuary to top militant commander Mullah Omar and the Afghan Taliban and will not allow its territory to be used against anyone, foreign minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi has said.

"We are clear we have to deal with all elements that are challenging the writ of the government and making Pakistan or other places insecure," Qureshi told the Sunday Times.

"We don't want our soil, our national territory, to be used against anyone."

Qureshi also said they are "no more differentiating between good terrorists and bad terrorists."

"They've created havoc, made our environment insecure, and wherever they are, we'll take them on," he said.

Asked specifically if this would include Mullah Omar and his Quetta shura, which runs the Afghan Taliban, the minister replied: "Absolutely, we'll be taking them on."

Taliban militants yesterday struck at government buildings in the city of Khost in southeastern Afghanistan with suicide bombs, AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, wounding 14 people, and provoking fears of a bloody election campaign.

At least three suicide bombers blew themselves up during the onslaught, which began in the early afternoon near a US military base, the report said.