Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced on Sunday that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was responsible for the recent murder of five Chinese engineers in Pakistan. Naqvi urged the Taliban to foster amicable relations with Islamabad by extraditing Pakistani Taliban leaders, including Noor Wali Mehsud, to Pakistan.

The attack occurred on March 26, when a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers in the Bisham area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, resulting in six fatalities, including five Chinese nationals. During a press conference in Lahore, Naqvi called on the Taliban’s interim government to arrest and extradite TTP leaders to maintain bilateral harmony.

Despite Pakistan’s request, the Taliban have refused to expel and hand over TTP leaders. They continue to host the TTP while denying responsibility for the group’s militant activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, deeming it an internal issue of Pakistan.

Naqvi confirmed the arrest of terrorists involved in the Bisham attack and asserted that Pakistan has irrefutable evidence linking the TTP to the incident. He warned that terrorists are exploiting vulnerabilities within Afghanistan’s Taliban control to pose security threats to Pakistan.

In response to these threats, Pakistan has intensified border monitoring. Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, there has been an uptick in insecurity and militant attacks in Pakistan, straining relations between the two countries. Consequently, Pakistani authorities have ramped up the forced deportation of Afghan refugees since October, a measure seen as a reaction to the escalating tensions and security challenges. This policy has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis faced by Afghan refugees and further strained the fragile relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan.