Washington:

Senior Biden administration officials say Pakistan is facing a dire terrorist threat, with terrorist activities multiplying along its border with Afghanistan.

At a congressional hearing on Pakistan’s election on Wednesday, Donald Lew, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the conflict in Afghanistan has been going on for 40 years and that Pakistan is deeply involved in it.

“The end of the war in Afghanistan offers all of us an opportunity, an opportunity to build a relationship with Pakistan on Pakistan’s own terms, and we are committed to doing that,” Lew said.

“One of our main objectives with Pakistan now is to support the people of Pakistan in dealing with this terrible terrorist threat. Many members have discussed this, but this is a country where people are suffering under the threat of terrorism to some extent. , I don’t think anyone on earth should have to suffer,” he said.

Attacks have increased exponentially over the past three years, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Lu said attacks continued to be launched from Afghan soil.

“Saturday saw a major attack in which seven policemen were killed by the Pakistani Taliban. We call on the Afghan Taliban to ensure that their territory is not used as a springboard for terrorist groups,” he said.

Six terrorists launched multiple suicide attacks on a security checkpoint in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Saturday, killing a lieutenant colonel and a captain and five soldiers. The Pakistani military said all six terrorists who attacked a checkpoint in Mir Ali area were killed.

In response to the attack, Pakistan on Monday carried out airstrikes against militants affiliated with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

The Afghan Taliban said at least eight civilians, including three children, were killed in an airstrike and summoned the charge d’affaires of the Pakistani embassy in Kabul to lodge a strong protest.

Lu further said that Pakistan’s economic stability is another focus area.

“Pakistan needs a well-functioning economy to deal with its socio-terrorism and political problems. We want private sector-led growth that benefits the people of Pakistan, rather than growth that spurs the profits of lending countries like the People’s Republic of China,” he explain.

He said the United States and Pakistan have a long-standing partnership. “We want to see that growth. We want to see business-to-business relationships improve. We want to see Pakistani-Americans traveling easily to Pakistan and Pakistanis traveling easily to the United States. These relationships are critical,” he noted.

In response to a question, Lew dismissed accusations that the U.S. government was plotting to overthrow Imran Khan’s government.

“I want to be very clear on this. These accusations, this conspiracy theory, are lies. It’s a complete lie. I reviewed news reports related to the so-called Pakistan code, purportedly leaked diplomatic cables from Pakistan. “This is the embassy. This is not accurate. At no point does it accuse the U.S. government or me personally of taking steps against Imran Khan,” he said.

“We respect the sovereignty of Pakistan. We respect the principle that the people of Pakistan should be the only ones to choose their own leaders through a democratic process,” he said.

Lu expressed concern about some aspects of the recently held elections.

“First, terrorist groups have attacked police, politicians and political rallies. Second, many journalists, especially female journalists, have been harassed and abused by party supporters. Third, some political leaders have been disadvantaged by their inability to register specific candidates. ,political party.

“On election day, an internationally renowned local election monitoring group said it was barred from observing vote tallies in more than half of the country’s precincts. Despite a high court order not to disrupt internet services on election day, authorities shut down mobile data services for Pakistanis to access Social media and messaging apps are the main way,” he said.

Lu said there were also positive elements to the election, with more than 60 million Pakistanis voting, including more than 21 million women, despite threats of violence.

“Pakistani voters have a choice. A range of political parties won seats in the national and provincial assemblies. Three different parties now lead Pakistan’s four provinces. More than 5,000 independent election observers were on hand. Their organization concluded that this The election was largely competitive and orderly, but some irregularities were noted in the compilation of results.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)