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KABUL: The Taliban on Wednesday denied allegations of Afghan involvement in a recent deadly attack on Chinese workers in neighboring Pakistan.

The five Chinese nationals, who were employed at a hydroelectric project site in Dasu in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, were killed along with their driver in a suicide bombing on March 26.

The Pakistani military said on Tuesday that the attack was planned in Afghanistan and that the suicide bomber was an Afghan citizen.

Maj. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, a Pakistan army spokesman, also told reporters that Islamabad had “solid evidence” that militants were using Afghan soil to carry out attacks inside Pakistan and that more than 60 security personnel had been killed in such attacks since the start of the year and that the Authorities in Kabul have not been helpful in combating the violence.

The Taliban Defense Ministry responded on Wednesday saying the claims were “irresponsible and far from reality.”

“Blaming Afghanistan for such incidents is a failed attempt to divert attention from the truth and we strongly reject this,” Enayatullah Khwarazmi, the ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

“The killing of Chinese citizens in an area of ​​Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under tight security protection by the Pakistan Army shows the weakness of Pakistani security agencies or cooperation with the attackers.”

The Dasu attack followed two other major attacks in regions where China has invested more than $65 billion in infrastructure projects as part of its broader Belt and Road Initiative.

On March 25, a naval air base in Turbat, Pakistan’s Balochistan province, was attacked, and on March 20, militants stormed a government compound in nearby Gwadar district, home to a Chinese-operated port.

Pakistan is home to two insurgencies, one by militants related to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan – the Pakistan Taliban – and the other by ethnic separatists seeking secession in the southwestern Balochistan province, despite its rich natural resources is still the poorest in Pakistan.

While the Baloch Liberation Army – the most prominent of several separatist groups in the province – claimed responsibility for the attacks in Balochistan, no group claimed responsibility for the attack in Dasu.

However, according to Naseer Ahmad Nawidy, a professor of international relations at Salam University in Kabul, blaming Afghanistan is “unfounded”.

“The insurgency in the region has been going on for a very long time and cannot be attributed to any specific area or country. Pakistan views the Islamic Emirate in its current form as a threat to its interests. “The Pakistani government must develop its relations with the Islamic Emirate on the basis of equal rights and goodwill for stability across the region,” Nawidy told Arab News.

“Stability in the region requires mutual cooperation and trust. The governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan must end the crisis in relations as quickly as possible. The repetition of such claims will further increase tensions and could lead to hostility between the two countries.”

Abdul Saboor Mubariz, a political scientist and lecturer at Alfalah University in Jalalabad, said Pakistan’s claims were intended to put pressure on the Taliban to support Islamabad in its campaign against the TTP.

“The Pakistani government is exerting various forms of pressure such as: “For example, the forcible deportation of Afghan refugees, allegations of security threats from Afghanistan, the closure of border points and the creation of challenges for Afghan traders,” he said, adding that allegations and claims of links to attacks have an impact on the Taliban- Government still sought recognition from foreign governments.

“The allegations are crucial for the Islamic Emirate as it seeks dialogue with countries in the region and around the world, while the government remains unrecognized by all countries around the world.”