Pakistan Rejects Charges Of Complicity İn Kunduz Assault

Pakistan has rejected allegations by Afghan officials that Pakistani intelligence agencies were involved in last week's seizure of Kunduz by the Taliban militant group.



In a Tuesday statement, the Pakistani army described the allegations as "baseless, uncalled for and malicious".



On Monday, Afghan officials accused Pakistani intelligence agencies of having provided assistance to Taliban militants who last week captured large swathes of Kunduz city, the provincial capital of Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province.



The capture of the strategically important city has been seen as a major setback for the U.S.-backed Afghan government.



The seizure of Kunduz has also served to raise questions about the Afghan national army's ability to combat the Taliban following a complete U.S. withdrawal from the country scheduled for next year.



"Pakistan supports the Afghan-led reconciliation process [with the Taliban]," read the Pakistani army's statement.



"These allegations [of Pakistani complicity in last week's assault on Kunduz] are not even comprehensible," it added. 



It went on to urge Afghan officials to refrain from making "such irresponsible statements" in light of the "common threat the two countries are facing" -- a reference to the Taliban.



Islamabad and Kabul often accuse one another of complicity in terrorist attacks that occur on each other's territory. - Afganistan