Ministry rejects Afghan al-Qaida link to UK terror plot
Afghanistan’s foreign ministry today denied any Afghan al-Qaida connection to an alleged plot to blow up aeroplanes over the Atlantic, rejecting a Pakistani allegation.
“(Afghanistan) has become an inhospitable environment for al-Qaida to commission any terrorist attacks outside Afghanistan,” the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry was responding to the allegation made by Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Friday that evidence links a key suspect in the probe, Rashid Rauf, to an “Afghanistan-based al Qaida connection”.
“As the recent evidences and ongoing investigations have revealed, al-Qaida continues to enjoy safe haven outside Afghanistan,” the statement said, calling Pakistan’s allegation “diversionary”.
Afghan officials accuse Pakistan of doing too little to stop militants using Pakistani soil to stage attacks in Afghanistan.
Pakistan says it is doing all it can to crush insurgents and has deployed 90,000 troops along the frontier.
